


Stay

by shrimpette



Series: Stay [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Altered Mental States, Angst, Canon Compliant, Complicated Relationships, Depressing, Dysfunctional Relationships, Genjutsu, Good Intentions, Grey and Gray Morality, LOTS OF SPOILERS, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mind Control, Post-Canon, Spoilers, Unprofessional Mental Health Help, canonverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-04-28
Packaged: 2018-10-12 21:41:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 43,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10500003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shrimpette/pseuds/shrimpette
Summary: "What, you wanted me to chase you again?!" Naruto yelled. "Was I supposed to throw away everything just because you were moody?""No," Sasuke replied after a short hesitation. Somewhere deep inside he had hoped that Naruto would ignore his protest and follow him anyways. It had been his time to choose between his dreams and Sasuke since there was no way to have it both. Naruto's choice was a reasonable one. Still, when he had come to say goodbye, Sasuke was almost certain that they would leave together to never come back. It didn't happen.





	1. away

**Author's Note:**

> If you're not okay with tags but you're just hoping "oh it can't be so bad," then I have to inform you that it might be pretty bad.

Sasuke flinched when he felt someone appearing in one of Orochimaru's old hideouts, where he currently resided. He soon relaxed when he recognized the chakra signature. It was just Naruto. Or, to be more precise, it was probably Naruto's clone. After all, Naruto was the hokage, so it was improbable that he would appear here in person. 

"Hey," Sasuke muttered a greeting without raising his eyes from the scroll he was reading. Naruto didn't reply. He just slumped on the floor next to Sasuke. He seemed distressed. "What's wrong?" Sasuke inquired. "If you needed me to do something, you could've sent a hawk-" 

"I don't need you to do anything," Naruto sighed. They sat in silence for the next couple of minutes. Sasuke rubbed his forehead. He caught himself reading the same sentence over and over again. 

"Why are you here?" He asked. He needed to regain his focus, and Naruto was ruining his attempts by not being himself. 

"Being a hokage sucks," he replied in his usual carefree tone. "I can't do anything without the council's consent, and the council... Well, they don't want anything to change-" 

"This much was obvious," Sasuke noted. He was surprised that Naruto was so deflated. It was nothing like him. He was supposed to have enough inner strength to cope with some resistance. This was why Sasuke chose to believe in Naruto as hokage. 

"I fought to bring you back and yet you're always away," the blonde complained. "I need you-" 

"You don't," Sasuke disagreed. If he stayed in Konoha, people would believe that he was influencing Naruto's decisions, what would weaken his position. Nobody wanted to have a former missing nin working as an advisor. Even as an unofficial one. 

"I do," Naruto exclaimed. "I feel so powerless-" 

"You can't beat sense into everyone," Sasuke said.  

"I know but I'm not cut out for plotting and scheming," the blonde whined. "Tsunade was able to make things go her way," he added in a much quieter voice. 

"So you want me to start a revolt so you would have more power," Sasuke murmured. Naruto smacked his shoulder in righteous anger. "But you do want the council to disappear." 

"Perhaps," the blonde admitted. "I promised Neji I would change Hyuugas but I _can't_. They've just marked another kid. And the branch family can't revolt because they would just get killed. Hanabi is the leader of the clan now but she can't do anything about it too. The rest of the main family wouldn't agree to it," he explained in a broken voice. 

"Shouldn't your wife be marked then?" Sasuke asked. He looked at his friend, who glared at him as if he had said something unimaginable. 

"She's hokage's wife. They wouldn't...," he whispered. "Our kids don't have the byakugan though, so I don't know if... Well, it's not like we're being invited anymore," he said. "The council wanted a byakugan user with lots of chakra but... It didn't work out," he added. Sasuke nodded. The council ordered him to reproduce as well. Apparently, the sharingan was too precious to be lost. That was the requirement he had to fulfill to be pardoned. He didn't want to agree but Naruto insisted. Sasuke still wasn't certain why he agreed. Maybe because he didn't believe that it would actually work. The sharingan was a recessive gene. And he had chosen Sakura because she didn't have any blood limit, and her chakra reserves were too small to allow using the sharingan in an actual combat. And she was one of the very few willing ones. She agreed to it even though he had told her that their marriage was to exist only on paper. It didn't bother her in the slightest. 

"I promised you a change too, and I can't do anything," Naruto whimpered, resting his head in his hands. "I've never felt this useless," he confessed. Sasuke frowned. It appeared that Konoha was able to break an unbreakable spirit. 

"I can't help you," Sasuke said the obvious thing. If he was to do it, things would get even more messed up. His reputation didn't allow him to do anything meaningful, so he resorted to securing the immense data Orochimaru had left. He wasn't surprised that the man was called a sannin. 

"I _know_ ," Naruto barked. He really was frustrated. "I want to escape but I know that it's not the right thing to do," he mumbled out. 

"Isn't Shikamaru your advisor? He's smart enough to do the plotting for you," Sasuke suggested. Naruto shook his head. He didn't even get angry at the implication that Sasuke considered him too stupid to successfully scheme. 

"He _is_ my advisor but he... I've never asked him but it seems that he approves of the council's decisions. He is a strategist, after all. And the council works towards making Konoha matter. And this means... It's not what I wanted. And I don't trust him enough. If I asked him for help, he might start to spy on me," the blonde explained. Sasuke tilted his head. Naruto was more thoughtful than he expected him to be. It seemed that he had some basic grasp of politics now. "I'm all alone in there," he complained. "I'm lonely without you-" 

"You're not," Sasuke disagreed again. "You have many people looking up to you. It's what you've always wanted. I would just make things difficult for you," he said. 

"Yeah, we all got what we've always wanted but none of us is happy about it," Naruto barked. Sasuke sent him a questioning look. "I mean you, me, and Sakura," he clarified. "We all fulfilled our dreams and ambitions-" He stopped mid-sentence when he noticed that Sasuke activated his rinnegan in a silent threat. "You know it's true-" 

"Don't compare it," Sasuke ordered. "You and Sakura are not even close-" 

"I _know_ ," Naruto yelled. He panted a few times. Finally, it seemed that he calmed down. "The thing is that none of us is happy," he declared. "I'm not happy, you're not happy, and Sakura's definitely not happy," he blabbered. 

"She knew what she was signing up for," Sasuke noted. 

"No, she _didn't_ ," Naruto retorted. "She thought you would change your mind. That she would be able to... That you would learn to love her," he explained in a bitter tone. 

"Funny that you're the one to call me out on this," Sasuke growled. "Sarada told me that your son doesn't consider his mother's marriage a happy one," he said. Naruto looked away, clearly ashamed of himself. "I at least was honest with Sakura-" 

"It's not like I don't love her," the blonde blurted out. Sasuke clicked his tongue. He was getting tired of this conversation. He formed a chidori blade to pop the annoying clone. "Hey, what do you think you're doing, eh?!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping backwards. 

"I'm going to destroy the clone. Don't teleport to me if you don't have nothing important to report or I'll stop carrying your mark with me," Sasuke threatened. 

"I'm not a clone," the blonde protested. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, his chidori dying out. This was unexpected. From what he had heard from Boruto, Naruto used his clones for pretty much everything. Hinata was practically married to a clone, and not the real person. 

"What about the village?" He asked. If they were both out of it, then Konoha was virtually defenseless. 

"I'll teleport back if any of my clones will disappear," Naruto replied. It was an acceptable answer. Sasuke pinched the blonde's cheek, sending some electricity through him just to make sure that he wasn't being lied to. He wasn't. "It hurt, you bastard," Naruto complained, rubbing his face. "And it's not the nicest thing to do, you do realize that-" 

"I don't care," Sasuke interrupted him. Naruto pouted at him, folding his arms. Now he was more of his usual self. "What exactly do you want from me?" 

"I don't know," he admitted, returning to his deflated state. 

"Just spit it out," Sasuke ordered. 

"I _really_ don't know," the blonde barked at him. "It just... I thought I would feel better after talking to you," he confessed. 

"Do you?" Sasuke questioned. Naruto rolled his eyes. The brunette smirked at the mute answer. "Shouldn't you talk about such matters with your wife?" 

"I barely know her," the man whispered. "She's very nice, and I know that she loves me but... I don't know, I guess we're both too busy to... I don't want to worry her. It's bad enough as it is, she doesn't need to know that I'm still a total failure," he sighed. 

"So you just wanted to spill your guts to someone, who's away from all of your problems," Sasuke realized. 

" _No_ , I wanted to talk to my best friend," Naruto disagreed, sounding as if he was talking to a complete moron. "This is what people do, you know," he added. 

"I wouldn't know," Sasuke replied, trying to read the scroll again. It was just as fruitless as before. Naruto was distracting him. 

"I wanted to go with you but you've said no," he complained. "I want you to be with me, and you're saying no. Do you really hate the idea of being anywhere near me this much?" 

"I don't," Sasuke answered. "But it wouldn't accomplish anything beside angering the village folk," he explained. 

"You've saved them enough times to make them understand that you're not a threat-" 

"I _am_ a threat," Sasuke stated. "The council knows that if it will try anything funny, I'll come to get their asses," he said. 

"Yeah, I doubt that they're currently planning to assassinate me," Naruto grumbled. Sasuke let out a tired breath. If Naruto was to find a way to actually bring the change he had promised, his life _would_ be in danger. Sasuke could just hope that whoever it would be, they would be afraid of him. And the council should worry about it the most since they were the most obvious suspects. "Besides, what if they target you first?" 

"This is why I agreed to carry your mark with me," Sasuke answered. "You can feel my chakra, you know when I'm in trouble, and I doubt that someone would be able to one-shoot me," he explained. 

"So the general idea is that I should save you when you're in trouble, and you're just going to avenge me," Naruto huffed. "Not fair," he decided. "I want to live too-" 

"You have a whole garrison of people, whose only job is to protect you," Sasuke pointed out. 

"Yet none of them knows that I'm right here with you," the blonde chirped. He plopped on the ground, his leg touching Sasuke's. Sasuke ignored it. "Why don't you just copy my technique and mark me?" 

"I thought you didn't want me to copy your techniques," Sasuke mused. 

"It _is_ cheating, you have to admit it," the blonde snickered. Sasuke shook his head in amusement. "But hey, if you could teleport to me, then we could see each other more often... I mean... You could see your family more often," Naruto suggested. "They miss you, you know," he stated in an accusing tone. 

"I can't copy it," Sasuke informed the other man. "And they're better off without me," he said. "At least they can be their own people and not the wife and the daughter of a criminal-" 

"They would just punch everyone, who calls you that," Naruto interrupted him. "And I would pardon them. I guess I can do at least this much," he mumbled, visibly pondering over the issue. 

"This isn't what I wanted," Sasuke whispered, more to himself than to Naruto. 

"Yeah, you wanted to kill the kages and destroy the tailed beasts," the blonde sighed. Sasuke sent him a faint smile. It wasn't what he had in mind. When he and Naruto had fought for the last time, Sasuke actually believed that they would build the new world order together. The harsh reality caught up with him a couple of days later when he was still in hospital. If he wanted a new world, he had to disappear. Otherwise people would rebel against being ruled by someone with his past. 

He was supposed to be with Naruto but he couldn't. Even if the first decision he had made on his own was to protect the accursed village. 

"Now I know that kages don't mean much," Sasuke said to humor the blonde. 

"Killing the council isn't going to solve anything," Naruto stated in a serious tone. "Just so you know-" 

"I do," Sasuke assured him. "I could take one more blow for you, though. If you were to come up with a solution that isn't considered legal-" 

"I don't plan to stoop so low," Naruto interrupted him. "And I wouldn't sacrifice you," he added. His hand landed on Sasuke's knee, squeezing it. "I check on you every couple of minutes, you know," he confessed. "I don't want to lose you again. Even if it feels as if I've already lost you," he grunted. 

"You haven't," Sasuke assured him. 

"If I could turn back time, I would've stayed with you," he whispered. 

"You wouldn't have became a hokage or had a family," Sasuke noted. 

"And neither would you," Naruto sighed. 

"Then I would've been at jail," Sasuke pointed out. "Now the village has potential hostages if it wanted to blackmail me." 

"...do you really think that this is what they were after?" Naruto inquired, a look of genuine shock on his face. "Those bastards-" 

Sasuke leaned backwards, resting his back on the hard and cold stone floor. If the village took Sakura or Sarada hostage... He would've rescued them. It was true that Sakura sealed her fate when she'd agreed to marry Sasuke but, Sasuke had to admit it to himself, he knew that she wasn't aware of how final his decision was. As for Sarada... The poor girl didn't have any say in the matter. She was the true victim. 

"You need to throw them down, Sasuke decided. "I bet they have some skeletons in their closets-" 

"They voted for murdering your clan," Naruto said. 

"I can't really count on any sympathy," Sasuke replied. The blonde lay next to him, deep in thoughts. His hand embraced Sasuke's. "I'll try to find some dirt on them. There's bound to be something in one of Orochimaru's libraries," he yawned. Only now he realized how sleepy he was. "You'll need a new council, though. You can't rule alone or people will call you a dictator-" 

"You should rest," Naruto murmured. "And I should probably go," he sighed. 

"You should," Sasuke agreed. None of them moved for the next few minutes. 

"I'll leave my clone with you," the blonde decided. "He'll help you with your research-" 

"He'll just be a nuisance," Sasuke protested. 

"I'll tell him to follow your orders," Naruto grumbled. "Although it's practically me so...," he trailed off, and cleared his throat. He sat up, forming the seals. Soon enough, another Naruto was standing in the room. "I'll leave you here," Naruto informed his clone. "You'll do as Sasuke tells you-" 

"Disappear," Sasuke demanded. The clone only rolled his eyes. "See, he's untrained-" 

"-unless it's something stupid," Naruto finished his command in a tired voice. 

"Sure," the clone agreed. The real Naruto gave Sasuke's hand a final squeeze before disappearing into thin air. Sasuke glared at the clone. "What?" the clone asked. 

"Make my bed," Sasuke ordered. He was tempted to simply evaporate the intruder but he decided against it. If he was to do it, Naruto would probably just send another one. And another. And another. 

"No," the clone replied, folding his arms. He disappeared with a satisfying puff when Sasuke pierced through him. "I'm not your maid," another clone barked immediately after teleporting to the hideout. 

"Then I don't need you right now," Sasuke pointed out. "I'm going to sleep, come back in the morning," he suggested. 

The blonde made a stupid face. "You have a point," he admitted after a longer while. Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. Of course he had a point. This much was obvious. The clone disappeared, leaving Sasuke alone. 

He stood up, and headed towards the bathrooms. He knew the water would be cold. When Orochimaru was still using the hideouts, everything was in a much better state but now... And Sasuke knew nothing about plumbing. He wondered if he shouldn't learn Naruto's Flying Thunder God technique just so he could take a hot shower. Gods knew he needed one. 

* * *

Sasuke woke up quite disappointed with himself. He hadn't noticed Naruto teleporting to the hideout. What was more, it seemed that Naruto slept even less than he did. Sasuke sat up on the hard mattress, and rubbed his limbs to give them some warmth. His left arm was especially needy. It would hurt for no reason at all. Even the part that wasn't there. Sasuke went through his morning routine, and left the room to join the obnoxious blonde in an otherwise empty kitchen. 

"You don't have any food," the clone complained. 

"I don't," Sasuke admitted, making himself a tea. He didn't offer Naruto one. It was pointless since it was just a clone, and clones didn't deserve anything in Sasuke's book. It would be wasting resources and time. 

"Do you like...hunt or something?" Naruto inquired. 

"Or something," Sasuke replied, opening a glass jar filled with pills. He ate one, and put the jar aside. "Orochimaru invented these. They are somewhat similar to the ones used by the Akimichi clan-" 

"These are for harsh conditions, and not for everyday use," Naruto interrupted him, looking terrified. "People keep telling me I have an unhealthy diet but _this_... This is just unthinkable. I bet it tastes like shit-" 

"It tastes like a pill," Sasuke assured him. "I don't eat them on a daily basis but, since you're already here, I don't have time to fix myself anything more complicated," he said. The clone opened his mouth, probably to be more annoying. "We have a work to do," Sasuke reminded him before he could say anything. 

Sasuke lead Naruto into one of the hidden libraries. Hundreds of scrolls were stored in there - the most precious ones. The rest had been already robbed by Konoha and other villages. Kakashi made sure of it. Luckily for Sasuke, Orochimaru wasn't an idiot, so some of his secrets remained what they were- secrets. 

"It's possible that there won't be anything in here," Sasuke warned Naruto. "I came here to study Orochimaru's techniques, not to uncover dirt on the council-" 

"I bet they're all forbidden," Naruto grumbled, glaring at the scrolls. 

"You're using a forbidden technique right now," Sasuke scoffed. The blonde frowned at him but it seemed that he decided against saying anything. "Don't make a mess," Sasuke ordered the clone before making a few of his own, and dispatching them to read through the scrolls. Naruto followed his example, and, surprisingly enough, he was more helpful than Sasuke expected him to be. He wasn't even talking. Perhaps he knew that as a clone he wasn't considered a valuable interlocutor. Or maybe Naruto learned how to concentrate on a task. 

"The onion people have died," the blonde said out of the blue. Sasuke sighed - half disappointed, half relieved that Naruto didn't change as much when he wasn't around. "You know, the clones-" 

"The ones with the sharingan?" Sasuke supplied. The blonde nodded. "What happened with their eyes?" 

"The council wanted to keep them _just in case_ but they kind of rot," Naruto murmured. "I guess they messed up the liquid they were keeping them in," he said. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the comment. "Tsunade's doing," the blonde explained. "They're pretty angry at her right now but, well, it's not like they can do anything about it-" 

"Can they link you to it?" Sasuke asked. Naruto shook his head. "It's good news, then," Sasuke said. 

"Not really," the blonde replied. "They're _dead_ , you know. Sakura told me that it was a bad design from the very start, that they were doomed to die," he sighed. "It wasn't _their_ fault-" 

"Neither it's yours," Sasuke interrupted him. The blonde looked miserable. "Why do you always have a bandages on that artificial arm of yours?" Sasuke asked to distract him. 

"It's made from the same stuff white Zetsus were made of, and it's kind of icky," Naruto answered. "And since I'm some kind of a poster boy, I can't look icky," he let out a bitter chuckle. "How about yours?" 

"Nothing has changed," Sasuke replied. 

"You're doing pretty well,  considering that you have only one arm-" 

"I could still take you on," Sasuke interrupted him. 

"Sure, it's not like you're _un_ armed," Naruto snorted. Sasuke glared at him. Then he gave up and cracked a little smile. The blonde grinned at him, visibly happy with himself. "When I'm with you, I feel as if I had a day off," he confessed in a hushed voice. 

"That's because you're slacking off," Sasuke said. This wasn't entirely true. They were working much faster than he had been expecting them to. One of Naruto's clones disappeared with a quiet puff. 

"Hey, I found something," he realized. "There's a bingo book of Konoha ninjas, and it's been handed over to Orochimaru-" 

"That was to earn his trust, so Sai could get in and kill me. Not the brightest plan but the intentions were good," Sasuke sighed. The blonde smacked his head. 

"Tsunade never approved of that plan, you know," Naruto said. "She sent us on a _rescue_ mission," he muttered. 

"And look where it got her," Sasuke argued. "I'm sorry but whenever something is linked to me, it's worthless," he said. 

"Yeah, endangering a whole squad of ninjas to get one teenage boy is a great idea," the blonde grunted. 

"I wasn't a _teenage boy_ ," Sasuke protested. The idea was absolutely absurd. 

"You _were_ ," Naruto barked. " _I_ was a teenage boy. We were all kids, that's why it's so fucked up. When we were Boruto's age, we were already fighting to death," he rambled. "Our children will never know what it was like," he added in an angry voice. "And I'm happy because of that but... I envy them. Things should've been different-" 

"Different how?" Sasuke interrupted him. "My whole clan was murdered because it was planning a rebellion, and you were a vessel for a demon, who had attacked Konoha. What did you expect? A candy and a pat on the head?" 

"No," Naruto grunted. "But hasn't it ever occurred to you that we shouldn't have had to live all alone when we were little kids? Nobody ever cared-" 

"You can't change it, so there's no point in discussing it," Sasuke muttered. "Unless you just want to whine about how hard it's been-" 

"Stop being like this," Naruto growled. "Stop accepting everything. It's not like you-" 

"You fought me to make me stop. _You_ wanted me to be like this," Sasuke yelled. "Here you have it-" 

"This _wasn't_ what I wanted," the blonde screamed back. "I wanted you to be happy-" 

"Well, I'm not," Sasuke barked. He was regretting ever agreeing to having Naruto _help_ him. He wasn't helpful. He was anything but helpful. And he was bringing back unwanted feelings. 

"Me neither," the clone whispered, slumping on the floor. "Where did I go wrong?" 

Sasuke knew that it was just a rhetorical question. Nevertheless, it annoyed him beyond belief. He took out seven shurikens, and threw them at the clones. He has never been as satisfied as when they all disappeared. 

* * *

Sasuke rolled out from the bed, taking a fighting stance. Only then he realized that the intruder was Naruto. Of course. It was morning again. This time, the blonde wasn't waiting on him in the kitchen but decided to visit his bedroom. 

"Ever heard of knocking?" Sasuke growled, standing up like a proper human being should. 

"Don't be an ass, I brought you groceries," the clone chirped, showing off a big bag of goodies. 

"So you _are_ my maid now," Sasuke said, trying to upset the blonde. His stomach grumbled at the thought of eating actual food, what ruined the attempt. Naruto just smirked at him, way too full of himself. 

"So, since I did the shopping part, you'll fix us some nice breakfast-" 

"I'm not playing house with you," Sasuke protested, taking the bag from Naruto's hands, and heading towards the kitchen. 

"Why not?" the clone wailed after him. 

"You're a clone," Sasuke muttered. He heard the other man following him. "It's not like you're an actual person-" 

"So you _would_ play house with the real me?" Naruto asked in an obnoxious voice. "I'm tempted to disappear just so the real me could learn about it," he snickered. "And people keep saying that you're so unapproachable-" 

"They're right," Sasuke interrupted him, simultaneously throwing a kunai at him. To his surprise, the clone jumped away to avoid being hit. He picked up the kunai, swallowing a curse. "I thought you wanted to disappear-" 

"But not like this," the blonde grunted. "Why are you so mean to the clones?" He whined. 

"Because they're annoying. Proper clones shouldn't blabber like this," Sasuke argued. "You'll cease to exist by the evening or sooner if I'll feel like it. Why should I worry about not being mean to you?" 

"My memories will go straight to the real me," the clone mumbled out. 

"It's a miracle he's not getting a headache with how many clones he uses daily," Sasuke sighed. "His brain would turn into a sponge if he was to actually care about these _memories_. How many clones does he use right now?" 

"About twenty," Naruto answered. 

"See? He's a busy man," Sasuke said, putting the bag on the kitchen table. He looked inside. The contents surprised him. He expected instant noodles or other unhealthy food but no, this was actually acceptable. It was probably Hinata's doing. Sasuke breathed in. He hadn't came to Naruto's wedding because he wasn't able to stomach the idea of Naruto getting married. His own wedding consisted of just signing the marriage form but Naruto had an actual party. No wonder. He did fall in love with Hinata. Sasuke had no  idea as to _when_ it happened. He was pretty certain that he didn't want to know. "Go read through the scrolls. I'll join you soon," he ordered. 

"I'm already doing it," Naruto replied. "The clones are doing it, I mean. I'm here just to keep you company-" 

"What's the point?" Sasuke asked in a tired voice. He already calmed down after yesterday. He was thankful that Naruto didn't decide to come back. And that he acted as if nothing had happened. This was exactly what he needed. A fresh start. 

"I don't know, I hate to eat alone-" 

"I bet you're not doing it now," Sasuke interrupted him. There were days when it was easy to forget that Naruto was married. Today wasn't such a day. 

"I actually do it all the time," the blonde confessed. "I'm busy, you know. With paperwork. _Why_ am I even doing it? When Tsunade was in charge, she had Shizune doing it for her-" 

"She could trust Shizune," Sasuke guessed. 

"Well, I don't have such a person. Not that it actually matters. When I don't like something, I'm forced to agree to it sooner or later anyways. But hey, let's stop talking about me, and focus on you," he merrily suggested. "The last two days were all about me. It doesn't make any sense," he blabbered. "I came here, saying that I miss you, and then I... Well, this is me talking about _me_ again," he laughed. "How's life treating _you_?" 

"Take a wild guess," Sasuke sighed, starting to prepare the breakfast. He was waiting for Naruto to start talking again but he didn't. The uncomfortable silence lasted for quite some time. "I miss hot showers," he mumbled out eventually. 

"You could always come to Konoha," the blonde suggested. "Or I could teleport you there just for a little while, so you would-" 

"That would be stupid," Sasuke snorted. "You always had a talent for wasting serious techniques for random shit." 

"Oh, you mean this?" Naruto asked with a mischievous smile, immediately turning into a naked woman. He put one small hand on Sasuke's shoulder, a troubled expression on his face. "Why are you so cruel, Sasuke," he complained, drawling out the last word. His breasts dangled in an exaggerated way. 

"Save your breath, it never worked on me," Sasuke said, gently shoving Naruto away. 

"Well, you grew up, so it was worth a try," the blonde chuckled, turning back into himself. "I thought the reversed version would've worked for you but it too didn't do anything," he sighed. 

"First of all - I was kind of busy fighting Kaguya at the time, second of all - where did you get that idea?" Sasuke inquired, returning to slicing a tomato. "Third of all," he said, practically interrupting Naruto, whose mouth was already open, "That was quite some variety. Your regular one is pretty boring." 

"The fact that the second question wasn't the first one is pretty telling," Naruto replied. Sasuke rolled his eyes. "And it had more variety because the regular one worked anyways. Why try to fix something that isn't broken?" He joked. "The reversed version wasn't my idea," he confessed. "It was Konohamaru's," he explained. "He actually showed me you and Sai. And it wasn't as... subtle as mine-" 

"That's...creepy," Sasuke decided. "Especially since I wouldn't call your performances subtle." 

"Yeah, and back then he was like thirteen years old," Naruto laughed. "But, anyways, what's so bad about teleporting to my place?" 

"I don't want to disturb Hinata," Sasuke hissed. 

"She'd be happy to see you," Naruto protested. Sasuke frowned at him. " _Or_ you could just go to your house," the blonde added hastily. "And I would be more than happy to meet Sakura, I haven't seen her in _ages_ -" 

"Then just go and see her," Sasuke barked. 

"That would be pretty awkward," the blonde grunted. Sasuke raised an eyebrow. This didn't make much sense. "We're both married, and people would talk. You know, because I used to have a crush on her, and you're never home, and I'm never home," he explained. It still didn't make any sense. 

"You don't have any issues with seeing me," Sasuke pointed out. Naruto sent him a sheepish smile. 

"We're both...," his voice died out when he saw the growing frown on Sasuke's face. "Nobody knows that I'm here with you," he blurted out. An uncomfortable silence fell upon them once again. " _You_ were avoiding me," Naruto snapped after a few minutes. " _You_ ran away from Konoha the moment you could stand on your own legs, and you _forbid_ me to follow you-" 

"It didn't stop you before," Sasuke barked back. 

"What, you wanted me to chase you again?!" Naruto yelled. "Was I supposed to throw away everything just because you were moody?" 

"No," Sasuke replied after a short hesitation. Somewhere deep inside he had hoped that Naruto would ignore his protest and follow him anyways. It had been his time to choose between his dreams and Sasuke since there was no way to have it both. Naruto's choice was a reasonable one. Still, when he had came to say goodbye, Sasuke was almost certain that they would leave together to never come back. It didn't happen. 

"What is it then?" The blonde asked. His eyebrows were knitted together, he looked both confused and angry. 

"It's nothing, sorry," Sasuke replied. The other man looked away, clearly unsatisfied with the answer. 

"You knew I loved you," the blonde complained in a hushed voice. His eyes were still glued to a wall. "You knew it, and you disappeared from my life-" 

"What else was I supposed to do?" Sasuke asked, a pained expression on his face. They had never talked about it. Naruto had never said he _loved_ Sasuke. He was using many different words but never this one. Sasuke didn't want to hear it. Not now, when it was already too late. 

"Stay with me," the blonde growled, finally turning his face to him. 

"It wasn't possible," Sasuke sighed, looking at the finished meal. He slowly shoved it towards the clone. He wasn't hungry anymore. "Not if you wanted to be a hokage. And you wanted it," he added. 

Naruto rested his head in his linked hands. "Well, hokage doesn't mean shit," he said. "I wanted to change the system, and I used to believe that being a hokage would let me do it but... I think I was more effective when I was still a nobody," he confessed. "If I wasn't a hokage, I wouldn't have to worry about all this stupid shit, and I could be true to my heart." 

"You're angry at me because you're disappointed with your life choices," Sasuke realized. 

"I'm angry at _myself_ ," Naruto corrected him. "We're not trapped in some stupid genjutsu, are we?" 

"We're not," Sasuke assured him. He leaned back on his chair. "Do you wish we were?" 

"...no," the blonde answered. "If wouldn't be fair to Hinata-" 

"Is this the only thing you have troubles with?" 

"No, I also love my children," Naruto barked at him. "My family's the only thing I'm happy about-" 

"Then why do you complain about me leaving? It shouldn't bother you," Sasuke pointed out, staring at the dirty ceiling. He flinched when Naruto touched his arm. "Eat up. We need to get back to work-" 

"I shouldn't have come here," the blonde whispered. Sasuke frowned at the words. 

"Suck it up," he growled. "Or be gone, and I'll get my hands dirty for you. Just like I've said it had to be like. You shouldn't have won with me back then-" 

"You never meant to kill me, Sasuke," Naruto interrupted him. "You lost on purpose, and then you ran away-" 

"I didn't run away," Sasuke angrily disagreed. "When I was actually running away, I did in the middle of the night, and made sure nobody knew about it," he barked. "The second time I did it, I killed Orochimaru to make sure he wouldn't follow me. This time I told you I was going away, you knew when and where I would go-" 

"You told me not to follow you," the blonde yelled at him. "If I knew I had to choose between you and being a hokage, I would've chosen _you_ -" 

"I know... but it wouldn't be a smart choice," Sasuke noted, rubbing the bridge of his nose. This conversation came too many years too late. 

Naruto stood up and paced around the room, making angry, unintelligible noises every couple of seconds. "I'm not exactly known for being smart," he grumbled after a minute or so, stopping in his tracks and leaning against a wall. 

"Have you ever considered what could happen if overthrowing the council wouldn't work? You'd be putting your family in danger. You're not alone anymore," Sasuke said. He was getting angry at Naruto. The blonde looked away, as if ashamed by himself. He was right to be ashamed. 

"I think I should resign from the post," he mumbled out. "Let Konohamaru or someone take it, and then-" 

"And who would provide for your wife and children?" Sasuke interrupted him. "Hinata can't count on her family anymore, so you'd leave her alone with two kids? Sakura's barely able to meet ends with just one," he pointed out. "There _was_ a reason why I believed hokage had to be lonely-" 

"Great, you were right, are you happy now?" Naruto barked at him. Sasuke shook his head. "Can't you just use your Izanagi or some other bullshit to turn back time?" He sighed. 

"...no. If I could, I would've used it to save my family," Sasuke replied. "Besides, I'm already one arm short. Losing an eye wouldn't be a smart move," he said. He expected Naruto to laugh at the silly comment but he didn't. The blonde simply slumped on the floor, looking completely deflated. Again. Sasuke got up from the chair, and sat next to his best friend. "You can't fix everything without ruining it first," he whispered. 

"...yeah," Naruto hesitantly nodded.

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes feeling nothing but pure terror. There was something in his nose and in his throat, and he could barely breath. He wheezed in panic, trying to pull the offending tubes out. He had only one arm again. How did this happen? 

Well, if he had tubes in throat... And the walls were white... And he was lying in a bed, feeling like shit... It had to be a hospital. The blonde looked around the room. He was the only patient in there. It seemed that he made some people worry since the entirety of a window sill and a small round table in the corner were full of bouquets of various flowers. Naruto coughed when he finally freed himself. 

He had no idea how he got here. The last thing his mind registered was talking with Sasuke. Sasuke! Naruto gasped when he felt his friend's chakra signature relatively nearby. He had to be in the village. It didn't happen too often, and it never lasted for too long. Did someone attack them? 

He jumped in his spot when he heard a door opening. 

"Naruto," Sakura cried in relief, practically choking him in her embrace. The blonde patted her back, simultaneously trying to come to terms with the fact that Sakura looked incredibly young. Maybe it was that Tsunade's technique. It had to be it, and this time Sakura really overdid it. She looked like a teenager again, as if she wasn't much older than her daughter. "How are you?" Sakura asked, cupping Naruto's face in her hands. Her pretty green eyes were fogged by tears. 

"Tired," he mumbled out. He cleared his throat, surprised by the sound of his voice. Well, it had to be because of all those tubes because coughing didn't help much. "What happened?" He asked. "How did you find us?" 

Sasuke and he were really lucky. He probably shouldn't have actually went there, he should've sent a clone. He endangered the wellbeing of Konoha. It just showed what a crappy hokage he's been. 

"Well, it wasn't _this_ far away," Sakura replied. Naruto furrowed his eyebrows. It _was_ pretty far away. A couple of days of travel by foot. "Kakashi and I found you both unconscious and covered in blood," she whispered. "You have no idea how happy I was that I'd spent all that time studying under Tsunade," she let out a sad sob. 

"Someone attacked us?" Naruto inquired. It seemed so absurd that there _still_ were people, who could take him and Sasuke head on. They were both ridiculously strong. Who was that person? Were they trying to attack the village? How did they know about the hideout?  

"No, of course not," she said. "You knocked yourselves out," she informed him. "Luckily, the eternal tsukiyomi's been already dispelled. After a couple of days you still weren't waking up, so we checked on you two, and... It seemed you were trapped in a genjutsu. We weren't able to free you," she whimpered.  

 Naruto gawked at her. Eternal tsukiyomi? It happened _ages_ ago. Did it mean that Sakura looked like her younger self because she _was_ her younger self? The blonde pinched his thigh. This couldn't be true. Maybe _this_ was a genjutsu. Sasuke was probably screwing with him, he would wake up in some time, and everything will be the way it was. It had to be. 

"Naruto? Your heartbeat is erratic," she noticed. The blonde breathed in to calm himself down. Did it mean that he wasn't a hokage? That he didn't have a wife and two kids? He swallowed a sob that threatened to escape his throat. His children... _They didn't exist?_ "Naruto, I should've known it would be hard to take, here, have some tranquilizers-" 

"I'm fine," he lied. He did a round of breathe-ins and breathe-outs to calm himself down. It didn't do much. "What about Sasuke?" 

"I don't know if he's woken up yet," Sakura answered, looking away. "Some people wanted him to get a capital punishment but Tsunade was able to keep him alive. Although he's in jail-" 

"Why?" Naruto inquired. It was probably a stupid question. He shook his head to let the girl know she didn't have to answer. "How long were we out?" 

"Over four months," she informed him. "You were taking it pretty fine... Well, you're still weakened, of course, but otherwise you're doing okay. It took a bigger toll on Sasuke. He's generally healing worse..." 

"I have to see him," the blonde demanded. 

"It's too early, Naruto," Sakura protested. "You have to recover. And you don't even know if he's up-" 

"He has to be," he interrupted her. "Let me see him, please." 

"I can't," the girl said. "In your condition-" 

"I'm going to see him," Naruto informed her, getting up from bed. His legs felt so weak. Sakura pushed him, forcing him to lie back. "Take me to him," he pleaded. She shook her head, clicking something on his IV. He immediately started to feel dizzy. 

"Sorry, Naruto," she murmured. It was the last thing his mind registered. 

*** 

When Naruto woke up again, he noticed Sakura sleeping in a chair, half lying on his bed. He gently shook her awake. The girl mumbled something in her sleep, shoving his hand away. He smiled at it, poking her cheek. Finally, her eyes cracked open. 

"You're up," she murmured. Then she jolted away, and started to act more proper, straightening a crease on her skirt. "I managed to convince Tsunade to transfer Sasuke here," she informed Naruto. "He's up, too. It was _his_ genjutsu-" 

"Bastard," the blonde grunted. 

"He's still dangerous, you know. We're keeping him out of chakra, though, so you _can_ go see him," she said. He immediately sat up, ready to run out of the room. "Not like this," she disagreed. "I'll drive you there. Here, I have a wheelchair prepared for you-" 

"I _can_ walk," he protested. The girl just frowned. "All right, have it your way," he surrendered to the silent threat. "Thank you, Sakura," he whispered. 

"Think nothing of it," she said. "You deserve to say your goodbyes-" 

"What?" Naruto interrupted her, grabbing her by the wrist. She sent him a sad look. He knew what it meant. "But you've said he wasn't going to get a capital punishment-" 

"He was harmless in coma but right now... Keeping him harmless is costly and pointless. We can't count on him, he may betray us any second. Hell, he tried to kill you, and he put both of us under a genjutsu-" 

"Have they lost their mind?!" Naruto exclaimed. His heart began to pump ridiculous amounts of blood. No. No, no, no, no, _no_! It can't end like this. He won't allow it. Sasuke will live no matter what. "Take me to him," the blonde pleaded. 

Sakura helped him get on the wheelchair, and pushed him through the corridor. Many people stopped to greet him and thank him for saving Konoha _again_. He smiled at all of them even though he was too distracted to note whom he was talking to. It was just a sea of faces, and none of them was the one he wanted to see. 

Finally, they entered a room. It was rather crowdy in there - six ninjas were sitting in a circle around the bed, so focused on their task that they didn't even notice Naruto and Sakura coming in. The blonde was guessing that they were keeping Sasuke out of chakra. This wasn't good. It meant keeping him on a brink of exhaustion. 

Then there were three anbu, who were guarding the doors and the window. They were the ones who let Naruto and Sakura in. 

Finally, there was Sasuke. Strapped to a bed, a piece of textile covering the upper side of his head. The only visible parts of his body were his chin and mouth. 

"Hi," Naruto mumbled out. When he was coming there, he seriously considered hitting Sasuke. Hard. For putting him into a goddamn coma, and screwing with his brain. Now Naruto realized that Sasuke looked terrible enough as it was. He had to help him fast. Sasuke sighed in reply. "Can you leave us alone for a moment?" Naruto pleaded. The guards shook their masked heads. Sakura stepped back, a pained look on her tired face. "I'll be fine, he's completely pacified now," the blonde argued. 

"Hn," Sasuke verbalized his discontent. 

"Sorry, Naruto," Sakura murmured. "It's either this or nothing." 

The blonde let out an exasperated sigh. He touched Sasuke's arm with his cold fingers. "I hope you have a good excuse for what you've done," he whispered. "Because I'm about to seriously screw up," he said in a hushed voice directly into Sasuke's ear. Suddenly, he felt a huge surge of chakra in his fingers. Sasuke's chakra. So his position wasn't as bad as he made people believe. Naruto breathed in in relief. 

"I'll be fine on my own," Sasuke whispered back. Naruto could barely make the words. So he still had a choice. As long as he didn't care about countless casualties Sasuke's escape would cause. 

"Don't do anything," Naruto ordered the other boy. "We'll talk later," he promised. "And seriously, think up a viable excuse," he grunted before riding away from Sasuke. Sakura appeared by his side as if on cue. "I want to talk with Tsunade," he informed her. 

"...I'll ask her to come visit you," the girl complied. 

"I need to talk to her _now_ ," Naruto emphasized, trying to stay composed. "I want him alive-" 

"It's not so easy," Sakura stated after they both left the room. Once again, Naruto was forced to act all cheerful around people on the corridor. "He wanted to kill all the kages, he put me under a genjutsu, he tried to kill _you_ ," she paused to smile and smalltalk with yet another person, "and he's put you under a genjutsu," she said. "He also killed Danzou, was a part of Akatsuki, threatened to destroy Konoha-" 

"I _know_ ," the blonde whined. Sakura didn't even enlist all of Sasuke's crimes. "He'll be in my custody-" 

"You haven't won with him," the girl pointed out. "If it wasn't us but _his_ allies, you might've been dead for all we know," she whispered. "Give up on him," she pleaded. 

"I won't," he said. Sakura squeezed his shoulder. He had no idea if the true answer wasn’t 'I can't,' but he didn't want to dwell on it. 

"He ripped my heart out in that genjutsu," she confessed when they finally reached Naruto's room. "I don't even want to think about what kind of tortures he's put you under-" 

"He didn't," Naruto hastily informed her. 

"What was it then?" She asked. Naruto pondered over the answer. He himself wasn't certain about it. It was a world in which he chose being a hokage. A world in which he had a family. A world without Sasuke. 

"Remember when we were teleported to that other Konoha? It was something like this," he explained. "You were his wife," he added. 

Sakura blushed heavily, escaping with her eyes. "Were we happy?" She inquired. 

"No," Naruto told her. She sighed, helping him get back to bed. "You were sick, and in debt, and he was never home-" 

"What about you?" Sakura questioned. 

"I married Hinata," he said. "And I too was never home," he let out a bitter chuckle. 

"It was just a genjutsu," she whispered . "Don't take it too seriously. I still have my heart, don't I?" She asked, her hand touching her chest. "It wasn't real. It was just what he wanted to show you to... I don't really know what he's trying to do," she grumbled. "Maybe he simply wants you to save him." 

"Maybe," he agreed with her even though he was sure that it wasn't the case. Sasuke _was_ able to escape on his own. This much was certain. "I can't let them kill him," he insisted. "We came to an understanding," he said. "And he did help save Konoha out of his free will. Without him, we would've ended up in eternal tsukiyomi." 

"Yeah but... You never know what he'll do next. He's not very stable," she murmured. "Naruto, you're seriously considered as a viable candidate for hokage," she said. "This is your dream coming true. Don't throw it away for someone who's not even going to thank you for it," she pleaded. "I still love him, okay? I do but even I know that he has to go-" 

"You mean die," the blonde interrupted her. She shook her head. 

"I'm not _this_ stupid," she laughed. "You two are on a demigods level of strong. Some villages are even complaining that there'll never be balance in force if we have both of you," she mused. "Most of them demand to have you transferred to them. Funny how nobody wants Sasuke," she chuckled. Naruto couldn't help but smile back. 

"I'm cuter," he joked. 

"That's hardly an accomplishment," the girl snorted. "I'll ask Tsunade to come visit you today. She'll probably want to run some tests anyways so..." 

"Thank you," Naruto whispered. Sakura sent him a warm smile. 

"I doubt it'll help, though. He wanted to kill her and the other kages, remember? Other villages will be furious if Tsunade frees him. Everyone knows that, well, he's actually capable of killing anyone he wishes," she said. 

"I'll keep him out of trouble," the blonde promised. Sakura snickered in doubt. 

"He's not going to listen to you," she replied. "If there _was_ a way to keep him under control, nobody would want to kill him. He'd be too big of an asset." 

"...so what else can I do?" Naruto whined. 

"The smart thing to do would be to just let him go his way. He'll keep himself safe," she assured him. Naruto let out a sad huff. He already saw it happen, and it wasn't what he wanted. "The stupid thing to do would be saying that you're going to have him freed anyways, and that you're just trying to avoid violence," she whispered. Naruto blinked in shock at the suggestion. "If it was Sasuke saying it, nobody would doubt that he's not bluffing. With you... It's difficult to imagine _you_ turning against Konoha," she added. 

"Or I could just run away with him," he mumbled out. He didn't like the idea one bit. Konoha was important to him. "I could threaten them to spill information about the Uchiha massacre," he thought out loud. 

"...what information?" Sakura inquired. 

"It was ordered by the council," Naruto answered in a hushed voice. "People won't like it," he murmured. "Especially the clans-" 

"This could actually work," the girl whispered. "I had no idea... Wow. Just wow. No wonder he's been so angry..." 

"Yeah," Naruto agreed, resting his head against the pillow. "The council will want to avoid public uproars. It's how they operate," he sighed. "...although Sasuke won't like it-" 

"He's tried to kill you so whatever," Sakura interrupted him. "He should be happy that he has a friend in you," she grunted. "Naruto," she murmured after a long pause, "are you certain you want to do it? There's no coming back, and it might sink your chances for being a hokage," she said. 

"I know," he sighed. Not becoming a hokage wasn't what he was worried about. Leaving the village was much more terrifying. But he promised Sasuke he would save him, and it seemed that there was no other way to do it. "Yeah, I want to do it," he stated, forcing himself to smile. "It'll be fun," he added. 

"Yeah, _right_ ," Sakura snickered. "I'll go call Tsunade," she promised before leaving the room. 

* * *

"What is it, brat?" Tsunade inquired, her arms folded, her lips trembling in an attempt to look all business and not to smile. She appeared happy that Naruto was finally awake. 

"I want Sasuke," Naruto stated. The woman glared at him for a while. Then her features softened. 

"I can't agree to it," she said in an apologetic tone. 

"It doesn't have to be official," the blonde assured her. "You can say we've ran away-" 

"This wouldn't be a good PR for Konoha," she disagreed. "Naruto, I know he’s important to you but you have to understand that he's a wanted criminal. I can't let him go." 

"You have to," he insisted. 

"I've been through it, okay? It was the very same story with Orochimaru, and I didn't let him live. Sasuke's much more dangerous-" 

"He's not dangerous," Naruto exclaimed. It was a stupid thing to say. "Not to Konoha," he clarified. "He promised he'll keep it safe-" 

"And before that he had promised to destroy it," Tsunade grunted. "What if he kills a kage? It's my head people will be after. It'll be _my_ failure. And look, we've already had a war while I was in charge. It didn't help my popularity," she tried to joke. 

"I _am_ going to save him," Naruto said. 

"It'll be considered treason," Tsunade informed him in a grave tone. 

"Same was thought of Itachi, who was Konoha's agent," Naruto retorted. "He killed his family to keep Sasuke safe but Konoha never finalized their end of the deal," he uttered. Tsunade blinked as if she had no idea what was going on. Then she shook her head in resignation. 

"Don't hurt anybody while you're running away," she pleaded, looking defeated. "You're making a huge mistake. He's not worth it." 

"He _is_ worth it," the blonde insisted. 

"You both don't have one arm, and his rinnegan eye is blind," Tsunade pointed out. This was new. "You also both need to recover but I _can't_ postpone the execution. It's scheduled for tomorrow's evening. Run away tonight. I'll call off some of the hospital security. Don't hurt the rest," she ordered. "You'll be sending me encrypted reports. Sakura will give you a code you'll use. Otherwise, you're on your own, and Konoha won't take any responsibility for any of your actions. You'll be considered missing nins, and you'll be hunted as such but not by us," she promised. 

"Thank you," Naruto exclaimed, getting up from bed and jumping towards the woman to hug her. She simply sighed. "You won't regret it-" 

"I already am," she complained, embracing Naruto back. "I had high hopes for you but it seems you'll end up even worse than Jiraiya," she said. "Don't die," she demanded. "You were supposed to take my place," she whispered. 

"I'm not cut out for this job," he smiled. Tsunade stepped back, wiping a stray tear out. 

"You grew up," she said, looking quite emotional. "You have friends in here," she reminded him. "Don't forget us." 

"I won't," he promised. He wished everything was different but it simply wasn't. Sasuke and he couldn't stay in there. Not like this. Not if they wanted to fix the system. 

* * *

Sasuke flinched when he heard a sound of breaking glass. Then there were footsteps and screams. Of course. He shouldn't expect Naruto to act like an actual ninja. 

"Don't hurt anybody, we're running away," a voice informed him. Sasuke mentally shrugged his shoulders. It was probably one of Naruto's summons. The presence disappeared within milliseconds, and Sasuke treated it as a signal to fight.  

It was now or never. He released some electricity to cut through the straps that were holding him tied to the bed, and some more to stun but not injure his guards. Soon enough they were all lying on the floor. He got up from bed. His head hurt. His muscles were weak from not using them. He got up, barely able to stand straight. He approached the window, where he was greeted by Naruto's smiling face. 

"What now?" The blonde asked him. Sasuke breathed in to refrain himself from snorting. "Don't look at me like this, I'm pretty useless without an arm-" 

Sasuke bit his thumb and summoned a hawk big enough to carry them both away. 

"Yeah, this works," Naruto said, straddling a bird and helping Sasuke to hop on as well. His hand was warm and much softer than Sasuke remembered it to be. 

"I thought _you_ were supposed to save _me_ ," he whispered, ordering the hawk to fly away. He didn't feel too well. Nevertheless, he forced himself to use his Susanoo to shield them from potential attacks. 

"I can't really use any techniques," Naruto mumbled out. He touched Sasuke's shoulder to supply him with his chakra. "Where are we going? One of Orochimaru's hideouts?" 

"I guess," Sasuke agreed. Nobody attacked them. Nobody was chasing them. A quite pleasant surprise. "He should have some supplies stashed," he added. He needed medicines. He wished Taka was with him. Naruto probably knew nothing about medical techniques. He's always had a medic with him. Sasuke regretted not learning any himself. Not that it couldn't be fixed. 

"Anyways," the blonde started uncertainly when they were far enough from the village, "what's your excuse for putting me into a coma for over four months?" 

"I thought it would last three to four days," Sasuke answered. 

"...yeah, because _this_ makes it right," Naruto muttered after a longer pause. He probably expected Sasuke to continue his thought. "You just wanted to manipulate me into agreeing with you-" 

"Not really," Sasuke disagreed. "I was trapped as well, so up until yesterday I had no idea what was happening," he said. "And I've set two conditions, which, if at least one of them was fulfilled, would break the illusion. The first one was that either you or me would agree with the other-" 

"No wonder it lasted so long," the blonde grumbled. "Disagreeing with me is your second nature-" 

"The second condition," Sasuke continued, unfazed by interruptions, "was you being happy," he confessed. "Or generally content with your life, if you want me to be precise." 

"...and how was I supposed to be happy in your genjutsu?" Naruto inquired. His cheeks were slightly flushed. "That world was horrible-" 

"It was _your_ world," Sasuke clarified. "I would never come up with a trip to the moon," he snickered. "And with a unicorn guy who lives there-" 

"Oh, shut up, will you," the blonde grumbled. Sasuke ended his Susanoo. It was no longer needed. He still felt as if he was about to collapse. "...what was the point?" Naruto asked. "You've lost your rinnegan-" 

"I wanted to make sure that you'd make the right choice," Sasuke explained, rubbing his forehead. "It didn't necessarily mean agreeing with me or going with me," he clarified. "You can probably still go back-" 

"I can't," the blonde said. "And I don't want to," he whispered. Sasuke shrugged his shoulders even though deep inside the fact that Naruto chose to go with him made him happy. 

* * *

Naruto woke up, feeling awful. His back hurt. His legs hurt. The room they stayed in was cold. The mattress was harder than the ground and it reeked of mold. Last night Sasuke suggested they use Orochimaru's bedroom, which was supposed to be more comfortable but, somehow, this seemed even more awful. Naruto shrugged in disgust. Ugh. That guy practically _was_ a snake, and snakes were like worms but worse. 

"How was your first night after escaping from Konoha?" He asked. He himself was regretting everything. Yesterday he threw away a quite comfortable future to live like a fugitive with his criminal best friend. Not the most sound of his life choices. 

"I had to recover after our fight, so it was rather uneventful," Sasuke replied. "Kabuto gave me some painkillers and a tranquilizer." 

"No, I mean," Naruto hesitated before speaking again, "did you miss home?" 

"You mean the place where my whole clan was slain?" Sasuke questioned in a dry voice. "Not really," he muttered. 

"...right," the blonde sighed. Probably even this dump seemed better than a goddamn cemetery. He had no idea why Sasuke and he hadn’t been put in an orphanage or something. He suspected that Sasuke wasn't really interested in talking about it. It wouldn't change anything. Or something along these lines. "What about your eye?" Naruto asked to change the subject. 

"What about it?" 

"Are you going to transplant one or what?" He prodded. "You've said it yourself, having only one arm and one working eye doesn't exactly give you any advantage-" 

"You have two eyes but I could easily defeat you," Sasuke smirked. "That's one of the good things about that genjutsu. I had over fifteen years to master forming seals with just one hand," he said, raising the said hand and straightening his fingers. "I don't plan to have anything transplanted unless it turns out that it's absolutely necessary," he added. 

"Why?" Naruto asked, turning on his side. Maybe this way his back would stop hurting. 

"These are Itachi's," Sasuke answered, pointing to his eyes. The blonde frowned. This was... Kind of gross, and kind of _romantic_. Mostly gross, though. Naruto was staring into eyes of a dead man. "Remember Five Kages Summit?" Sasuke asked. He continued when he saw a nod. "I was practically blind back then. Turns out you can't spam mangekyou," he whispered. 

"So what, when I'll die you'll take my arm?" Naruto tried to joke. Maybe they should avoid difficult topics for now. He didn't want to remember yet another of their fights. Sasuke just shook his head. "I missed you, you know," he said after a hesitation.  

"I know," the boy replied. 

Then there was an uncomfortable silence. Naruto felt somewhat guilty because of how needy he was. Nevertheless, although he knew very well that the feeling was mutual, he wished Sasuke would admit it verbally as well. Being with him wasn't exactly lonely but it was much different from being surrounded by people. The blonde breathed in to calm his racing heart. He just reminded himself of what he's done. 

Right now it really was Sasuke and him against the world. By now, the word of their escape had to reach other villages. He could just hope that nobody knew where exactly Orochimaru's hideouts were located. He wouldn't be able to fight people he used to protect. 

"What are we going to do now?" He asked. 

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. "We could try to find something edible for breakfast," he suggested. "Or take a shower-" 

"No, I mean... With our escape and stuff," he clarified. He had forgotten what it felt like to be on his own. In the last few years he got used to having someone support him. He had Iruka, Sakura, Tsunade, and his other friends. Right now he had only Sasuke, and... Well, some of their last few meetings ended up with both of them getting hurt. The last time they were all friendly with each other was when they were still kids. 

He was glad that Sasuke had found himself a new team. At least he hadn't been completely alone. Right now they had only each other. Naruto braced himself for what was about to come. They both had to support one another. 

"First you'll have to learn to form seals with one arm," Sasuke replied. "In the meantime, we could start where we've left off. The council has to go." 

"I guess," Naruto agreed. "So we'll be technically terrorists-" 

"I don't plan for us to jump in there and assassinate them," the other boy sighed. "Even if it sounds tempting-" 

"Oh, shut up," the blonde whined, poking Sasuke's stump. "It's cold in here," he complained. "And these clothes don't help," he added, studying the hospital pajamas. They were made of thin cotton, what worked in a warm and dry environment but, sadly, Orochimaru's hideout was nothing like it. 

"We could go to the laundry room and try to find something warmer," Sasuke suggested. 

"Yeah, I wouldn't feel very comfortable in a dress," the blonde snorted. "Or with a bow around my ass-" 

"It's not a bow," Sasuke snarled. He breathed in, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

"I bet there's also a fine choice of shirts with indecent v-cuts," Naruto chortled. He hiccupped with laughter while Sasuke tried to cover his mouth with a hand. "Those clothes, man," he snickered. 

"Because an orange tracksuit is _so_ fashion forward," Sasuke barked at him. "Moron," he huffed. It didn't sound too angry, though. It was almost like a pet name. "There are different types of clothes. Orochimaru wasn't the only person to live in here," he said in a much calmer voice. "Besides, it's not the right time to be picky. It's either this or hospital pajamas. Your choice." 

"Not the only person to live here," Naruto repeated. "Nice euphemism," he muttered. "You tend to forget that most of these people were kept in here against their will-" 

"I didn't kill him just for my selfish reasons," Sasuke retorted. "I also freed all these people. Neither Konoha nor any other village did anything to help them. They didn't care-" 

"But then you brought him back to life," Naruto interrupted him. "Who does that?! You knew he was evil and twisted, like, why would you-" 

"I wanted information," Sasuke explained. "And I don't recall him lying to me-" 

"I remember him talking about you as if he owned you," the blonde grunted. 

"He didn't," the other boy assured him. "And he's supposed to be dead now," he added. "Even if he isn't, he'll keep a low profile for some time. He's not an idiot." 

"...I have something for you," Naruto whispered. He didn't feel like talking about Orochimaru. If it wasn't for him... Maybe, just _maybe_ , things would have been different. Sasuke shot him a surprised stare. The blonde reached to his bag, noting its unpleasant dampness. Staying in that place wasn't too good of an idea. He took out the other boy's headband. "It's yours," he said. 

"I didn't come back to Konoha," Sasuke pointed out, taking the headband. His fingertips left their marks on the cold metal. He tracked the scratch with his thumb, looking as if his mind has drifted away. 

"I'm just really glad that you're still alive," Naruto said in a hushed voice. "And I don't even mean that death penalty. After our last fight... I thought you _wanted_ to be dead. So... This may sound dumb but I'm happy that you've chosen to be alive. It means a lot to me," he paused when he noticed that Sasuke was staring at him wide-eyed, clearly taken aback by the words. The blonde embraced him with his arm, and pulled him closer. "I'm still panicking about this whole being a missing nin business," he admitted, "but if it means that I get to be with you, then it's worth it," he whispered with a smile. He couldn't see Sasuke's face because it was pressed against the nook of his neck. However, he could feel a strange wetness. Not a lot of it but enough to make it unmistakable. It was tears. He chose to not comment on it. 

"... I'm sorry," the boy rasped. Naruto opened his mouth to ensure him that there was nothing to be sorry about but Sasuke interrupted him. "I'm sorry," he repeated. "This isn't real, Naruto."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been eight fucking years


	2. here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> huhuhu, no updates for two years, and now there wasn't even 24 hours in between updates

Sasuke's throat felt as if it was about to close forever, leaving him breathless for an eternity. He coughed to clear it, and wiped off stray tears. It wasn't supposed to end like this. Naruto was staring at him in disbelief, not saying a word. 

"I'm sorry," Sasuke said. It sounded as if the words had to crawl through a thick layer of gravel. "I thought you'd regret it," he explained. "I shouldn't have done this," he admitted. 

"...have you just...," Naruto stuttered. He was still in complete shock. "This was just a lie?" He asked in broken syllables. "You... _Why_ would you do that?!" 

"I'm sorry," Sasuke repeated. "Your other clones have disappeared," he informed the other man. The blonde blinked, probably realizing that it was true. He wasn't doing anything about it, though. "Are you a clone?" Sasuke inquired. Naruto shook his head. "You have to teleport back-" 

"Shut up," the man snarled at him. His blue eyes shone with anger. "What were you thinking?!" 

"...I thought you'd be relieved that you've chosen to go the other way," Sasuke answered. "I never expected you to be _glad_ -" 

"Of course I was glad, that stupid genjutsu fixed my every problem. I was able to take an action, I wasn't endangering anyone, and I was with you," the blonde growled. He got up, glaring at the untouched breakfast. "How long was I out?" 

"The genjutsu lasted less than ten seconds," Sasuke informed him. "We've been talking for a couple of minutes now. People have definitely noticed that you've gone missing, and they're about to panic." Naruto sighed, forming a seal, and summoning a bunch of clones. They immediately teleported out. "In that genjutsu... You were also a missing nin without a family, without friends, and without any future prospects," Sasuke pointed out. "You can't say that you weren't regretting going with me-" 

"I wasn't _regretting_ it," the blonde barked. "I was sad and scared but I knew I would've chosen you again, no matter the costs," he sighed. "Why did you end it? You could've tried making it more horrible but you just gave up halfway through." He leaned against a wall, glaring at Sasuke, who was pondering over the answer. 

Naruto was right. Sasuke _could_ have made it more unbearable. So why did he end it? Giving up wasn't like him. Perhaps he _didn't_ want Naruto to regret going with him. Maybe he wasn't able to bring himself to shatter the illusion that if they were together, things would've been better. Maybe he was taken aback by Naruto's 'thank you for being alive.' 

"I'm sorry," he said instead. He wondered if Naruto would stay with him if he asked him to. Probably not. Naruto would never abandon his family. It would be a cruel and a selfish thing to ask for. "It wasn't real. It doesn't change anything." 

"You're wrong," Naruto disagreed. "You've been my goal ever since I can remember," he confessed for the umpteenth time in his life. "At first I just wanted to get better than you but then... Then I had to be stronger than you, so you'd... Come back," he coughed, probably to hide his embarrassment. "After our last fight, I... I thought that I've finally done it. People were calling me out on this, you know," he let out a bitter chuckle. "Even you have. They were saying I was obsessed with you," he sighed. "Maybe I was. Maybe I never stopped obsessing over you. But when you decided to leave me all alone again, I was really angry at you. I had nothing to do. I was still training to get better but I no longer had a purpose, so I was left with more time than I knew what to do with. I realized that you were right when you said I was lonely. I was," he admitted. "Then, I saw in a genjutsu that Hinata liked me ever since we were little kids. She was as obsessed with me as I was with you," he whispered. "She was just like me, doing her best so I would notice her. She's said she loved me. I've never paid any attention to it. I realized _I_ was her Sasuke," he said. "I knew how _I_ felt without _you_. I sympathized with her. I _was_ her. I've never felt this way about anyone else but you." 

"Is _this_ why you married her?" Sasuke inquired. He tried to act as if he didn't care but Naruto's confession was so pathetic that it was actually sad. The blonde nodded, his eyes glued to a point behind Sasuke's back. "You _idiot_ -" 

"I haven't known how she felt about me but you _did_ know," Naruto interrupted him. Sasuke shook his head in disbelief. This was beyond stupid. 

"So what, you've married her because she was you, and you were me?" He asked. "She's not you, and you're not me," he barked. "This was you pitying yourself-" 

"I _know_ ," Naruto grunted. "I wasn't thinking straight back then, I had no idea what I wanted to do besides becoming a goddamn hokage," he growled. "And I had no idea that Kakashi would resign so fast," he added in a tired tone. "You could've stopped me-" 

"Was I supposed to ruin your wedding by telling everyone that you're a total moron, who's incapable of thinking about anyone but himself?" Sasuke questioned. "And I'm calling bullshit on 'Hinata was the only person, who was just like me,'" he added. "It was the same with Obito. He murdered your parents, he helped murdering my clan, and you've said he was the coolest man you've known just because he happened to share your dream. For fuck's sake, he started that fucking war," he yelled. "You just keep saving _yourself_ -" 

"That's rich coming from you," the blonde snarled. "Seriously, you're the most selfless guy I've ever known-" 

"There's no need for the sarcasm," Sasuke sighed. "I'm at least honest with myself," he pointed out. 

"Obito helped me save you," Naruto reminded him. He sounded frustrated. "He sacrificed himself for Kakashi and for _us_. At that point in time he gave us everything he had. I'm not as bitter and unforgiving as you are-" 

"Do you even hear yourself?!" Sasuke gasped. "Forget about me and the rest of the world but he _killed your parents_. _He_ is the reason your life was miserable. And for what? For one girl, whose name I can't even remember-" 

"Technically, it was Kurama, who killed them. But we're too on good terms now. _You_ tried to kill me and my friends but I forgave you," Naruto barked at him. "I wasn't even mad at you," he sighed. "I was trying to understand you. I still do." 

"That's because you think that I'm you," Sasuke retorted. 

"No, I just think that I might've ended up _like_ you if it wasn't for Iruka, Jiraiya, Sakura and _you_ ," he confessed. "You saved me. I'm sorry I wasn't as helpful." 

"...it had nothing to do with you," Sasuke sighed. "And I don't mean it in a bad way," he clarified when he noticed a frown on the other man's face. "I would've ran away anyways. And I don't regret doing it. At least now I know what really happened. I doubt I would've learned about it if I stayed in Konoha." 

"You probably wouldn't," Naruto agreed with him, plopping on the floor, and completely disappearing from Sasuke's line of sight. "If it wasn't for Mizuki, I wouldn't have known I'm a jinchuuriki," he added in a carefree tone. "You'd think I should've known that but hey, it's better if I don't. Because reasons." 

"Konoha sucks," Sasuke agreed, snorting. He heard a quiet curse, and the curiosity got the better of him, so he got up from his chair to look at the other man. Naruto was sitting on the floor, covering his face with his left hand. "What's wrong?" Sasuke asked. "If your head hurts, then it's my fault. I tried to be gentle with that genjutsu but-" 

"It's not it," Naruto assured him. His voice cracked. He took a deep breath. "One of my clones just disappeared. They're not happy that the real me wasn't there," he sighed. "They believe I am there _now_ , though," he added. "It's a good thing that they believe me to be more responsible than I actually am," he chuckled. "They didn't even ask. My luck. I can't lie at all." 

"Do they know that I was with you?" Sasuke inquired. The blonde nodded. It was to be expected. And it didn't matter as much since nobody knew where he was. Or did they? "What about this place?" 

"Even I don't know where it is," the other man laughed. "I shouldn't have called you selfish," he whispered. "When you activated your sharingan for the first time, you risked your life to save me even though I gave you no reason to do it," he said. "Then you were ready to sacrifice yourself for me and Sakura when you were fighting Gaara. And you rushed to my rescue when Itachi came to get me," he paused for a short moment. "To be honest, I have no idea what Itachi wanted to gain back then. Now I know that he was working for Konoha, so I doubt he'd actually turn me over to the Akatsuki but... What was the point? And he hurt you pretty badly, too-" 

"I can't say I understand it," Sasuke admitted. He had thought about it before but no matter how he looked at it, it didn't make sense. If it wasn't for Tsunade, he probably wouldn't have woken up. It didn't exactly spell 'love and care.' 

" _And_ he wanted to put you under a genjutsu," Naruto added. Sasuke raised an eyebrow. This was the first time he's ever heard about it. "It was supposed to be activated by his mangekyou. He knew you'd take his eyes. Actually, they're Shisui's, aren't they? Quite a recycling-" 

"Do you even have a point?" Sasuke growled. "What was that genjutsu supposed to do?" 

"It was an order to protect Konoha. Doesn't make sense, right? First, he did everything so you'd run away, and then he's all like _nope_ -" 

"He did that to protect me," Sasuke sighed. 

"From what? From himself?" Naruto asked. "He practically pushed you into Orochimaru's tender embrace when you were _twelve_ -" 

"Shut up, will you," Sasuke barked at his friend. 

"And he _didn't_ want you to know about why he's killed your family," the blonde pointed out, evidently deaf to protests. "I have absolutely no idea what he wanted. Like, you know, the first time he showed up--if he didn't hurt you, then I would've assumed he just wanted to scare the council since Konoha did send you to fight Gaara, when he was acting all crazy-" 

"If he didn't hurt me, I could've gotten suspicious," Sasuke grunted, giving up on making Naruto shut his pie hole. "It was me, who attacked him. And he wanted me to hate him-" 

"He'd put you into a _coma_ ," Naruto interrupted him in an exaggerated whine. "Well, to be fair, I did think you've put me into one, and I wasn't too mad about it either. I guess it's just an Uchiha thing-" 

"Why are we even talking about my brother?" Sasuke questioned, massaging his forehead. This whole conversation was giving him a headache. "I believe you were talking about me being less of a jerk than you are," he added, mostly to annoy Naruto, so he would change the topic. 

"You were just complaining about me thinking well of people who don't deserve it," Naruto replied. "You're doing it as well." 

"Don't compare Itachi to Obito," Sasuke protested. "Obito wanted to destroy the world just because he didn't have a chance to score a girl. That's pathetic." 

"...maybe he loved her," Naruto grumbled. 

"That doesn't make it right," Sasuke sighed. "He was a scum, and he should've died like a scum. What he did in the last few minutes of his life doesn't fix anything." 

"If he had more time, he would've done more," Naruto whispered. "You too are not a saint." 

"I'm not pretending to be one," Sasuke sighed. "And I had a much better reason. He helped to slay his own clan-" 

"And you killed your brother, almost killed your wife and daughter-" 

"Seriously, Naruto, shut up," Sasuke demanded. "Or your clones will disappear again." 

"Fine," the man relented. "The thing is, that genjutsu of yours made me realize that I was and still _am_ a jerk," he said. "I lived in a world, where my children didn't exist, and I wasn't married to my wife but I didn't mind it too much because I was with you," he muttered. 

"Divorce Hinata," Sasuke suggested. "She deserves better. Besides, it's not like you're actually a husband-" 

"We have two children," Naruto protested. 

"Whom you don't know," Sasuke said. "I know your son better than you do, and, from what I've heard, you couldn't even be bothered to attend your daughter's birthday-" 

"The same could be said about you and Sarada," the blonde grunted, dark blush spreading over his face. 

"My deal with Sakura was different. I didn't promise her any love or care," Sasuke sighed. "I _would_ risk my life if hers or Sarada's was in danger but I don't love them, and I've never said I do," he clarified. 

"I hate you," Naruto decided. "And I hate it when you're right," he added in a defeated tone. "I became a bigger dick than you. Where did I go wrong with my life?" He tried to joke, getting up on his feet, and going back to his seat by the table. 

"Everywhere," Sasuke replied. "You're screwed. You'll either suck it up, and pretend everything's fine or you'll try to fix it. No matter what you'll do, people will be hurt. It's just a question of whether you think so lowly of Hinata that you believe she's unable to find herself a better partner. Honestly, Naruto, anyone would be better than you. You suck as a father, as a husband, and as a hokage. People will be better off without you." 

"Wow, thanks, that's so kind of you to say," the blonde muttered, glaring daggers at him. "Everyone would be happier if I was dead-" 

"Not everyone," Sasuke disagreed. Naruto huffed in annoyance. "Although Itachi did say I should kill my best friend-" 

"Sorry, honey, you've had your chance," Naruto barked. Sasuke sent him a warm smile. "Killing people to get power-ups is pretty sick, though," the blonde said. "No wonder I'm your only friend-" 

"It was a mistranslation," Sasuke interrupted him with a heavy sigh. He decided to let the 'power-ups' part slide. "But it would've worked, so," his voice drifted away. "Anyways, I don't think that my sharingan can still evolve, so the whole enterprise would be pretty pointless," he concluded. Naruto glared daggers at him. 

"Joking about killing me isn't funny," the blonde retorted. "You _were_ trying to do it before so it's not just some shit talking, it's always been a possibility for you," he complained. "Besides, your brother told you to kill me,"' he added. "That's... Like... Who does that?!" 

"He didn't know it'd be you," Sasuke pointed out. Judging from Naruto's face, he had issues with the other part of the statement. "He did that to protect me-" 

"Cut the crap," Naruto demanded. 

"The council wasn't exactly trying to keep me safe," Sasuke replied. "I'm not trying to rationalize their behavior regarding you but you were a demon vessel whereas I was a harmless kid," he started. 

"That's totally not rationalizing it," the blonde growled. "I should be happy I was allowed to walk among other people instead of being confined to a jail cell-" 

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You've heard about what Gaara used to do as a little child," he argued. "Some jinchuurikis _were_ held in jails. It's not fair or just-" 

"But it's _understandable_ ," Naruto interrupted him. "To think that _you_ out of all people would say something like this," he muttered, shaking his head. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sasuke questioned, his eyes narrowing. The blonde looked away, refusing to answer. Sasuke breathed in. "Still, leaving an eight-year-old to take care of himself is quite reckless. Then there was that mission with Zabuza-" 

"That was a coincidence," Naruto protested. "How were they supposed to know-" 

"Maybe because that's their job," Sasuke replied. "I won't believe that they didn't know that the Land of Waves was in trouble. They knew it was a dangerous mission. They did that on purpose," he said. "Then, they made me fight Gaara-" 

"The system decided-" 

"Actually, wait. Normally, such newbies as we shouldn't even be allowed to participate in chuunin exam. It hasn't happened before," Sasuke interrupted Naruto, who looked more and more dumbfounded. "And they knew Orochimaru was in there but they didn't do anything to stop him," Sasuke added. "Then, they made me fight Gaara. Then, they ordered me to chase him," he continued. "And they sent in Sai to assassinate me but they didn't put much effort into this one, so-" 

"Maybe it wasn't all about you," Naruto retorted. He didn't sound too convinced, though. "I was in there. Putting a _demon vessel_ in danger isn't a smart move," he argued. "They even wanted me to skip war. Yeah, you're just being paranoid." 

"Maybe that's why I'm still alive," Sasuke sighed. "And they wanted you to skip war because Akatsuki already had seven of the other tailed beasts. You saw what happened later, you were there. The council simply believed that you'd be more of a nuisance than a help. Maybe they were right-" 

"Maybe you just don't want to face the fact that your brother wasn't as great," Naruto mumbled under his nose. 

"What's in it for you?" Sasuke asked after a longer moment of unpleasant silence. "Really, why do you keep coming back to this topic?" 

"...I don't know," the blonde admitted. "I guess I just don't understand it," he confessed. "I mean," he started, "I don't understand _him_. I think he's screwed up a lot-" 

"He thought so as well," Sasuke informed the other man. 

"Well, yeah, but you're usually the first one to call people out on things but with him you're all like _nope, he was perfect_ ," Naruto clarified. 

"He _was_ perfect," Sasuke insisted. 

"I give up," the blonde grumbled. He rubbed his chin, looking absolutely devoid of thought. It was actually fascinating. Then, Naruto's face warped into a terrified mask. "What do I do now?!" He wailed. Sasuke opened his mouth to reply but Naruto's never shut up. "And why do I have to confide in _you_?! You're like the worst possible companion for this kind of talk-" 

"Why, thank you," Sasuke muttered. 

"I wish Sakura was here," the blonde whined, completely ignoring Sasuke. "Or Iruka. He'd be even better," Naruto decided. "Although he'd probably hit me in the head and call me stupid," he sighed, hiding his face in his linked hands. 

"This can be arranged," Sasuke offered. Naruto's fingers parted to reveal a pair of disappointed eyes. "Go home," Sasuke suggested. He couldn't remember when was the last time he talked so much. Probably never. "And you should probably stop letting illusions govern your life," he added. 

"I can't go home like _this_ ," Naruto protested. "What about Hinata-" 

"You weren't going to see her anyways, so what's the difference?" Sasuke replied. The blonde huffed at him. 

"Maybe I should pretend I'm dead," Naruto blurted out. Sasuke tilted his head. "Okay, fine, that's a terrible idea," the blonde resigned. "Only a total jerk would-" 

"You're not smart enough to pull it off," Sasuke pointed out. "Someone would eventually find you, and then you'd have an awful lot of explaining to do," he clarified. Naruto sent him an angry look, still rubbing his temples. 

"My head hurts," he complained. Sasuke frowned. He hoped his genjutsu wouldn't cause any damages. He reached out his hand to check Naruto's forehead for temperature but the moment Sasuke's fingertips came in contact with Naruto's skin, the world became a blur. 

* * *

Naruto coughed up some leftover vomit straight onto Sasuke's shoes. His head was spinning, and if it wasn't for the other man helping him stand, Naruto would've ended up on the floor of his office. The moment he felt his clones disappear, his instinct was to teleport back to Konoha. It was just his luck that Sasuke chose that particular moment to touch him. 

"Send me back," the man ordered. Naruto frowned, dry heaving. He heard a door opening. Then, an alarmed voice demanded to know what was happening. "He got sick," Sasuke muttered in reply. "You're overworking him," he added. 

"I'm fine," Naruto lied, raising his head to look at Shikamaru, who was currently judging the state of the floor and Sasuke's shoes. The blonde was more than glad that these weren't sandals because that would've been even more disgusting. 

"You just disappeared from a meeting with the Fire Lord," Shikamaru complained. "As you can probably imagine, he's furious," he said. Naruto sighed, using the last reserves of his strength to create a clone. "Are you serious?!" Shikamaru yelled at him. 

The blonde swallowed a curse and ended the technique. Sasuke gave him a quizzical look. "It's just as sick as I am, and it fucking hurts" Naruto answered the mute question. "Change into me, Shikamaru," he commanded. "I can't go there, I'd just barf at the Fire Lord, and that's _not_ how you make friends-" 

"I have to agree with this," Sasuke chimed in. "Nevertheless, they may see through Shikamaru's disguise," he pointed out. "Why would you go to my place when you have scheduled a meeting with dignitaries is beyond me," he added. Naruto shook his head in disbelief. He wanted to say that everything would be fine if Sasuke hasn't tried to mess with his head but doing this in front of Shikamaru, who already wasn't too fond of Sasuke, would be plain stupid. 

"True," Shikamaru agreed with Sasuke. That was probably a first for him. "I'll inform them that you're sick but they won't like it-" 

"Fuck it, I'm going," Naruto interrupted him. Shikamaru smiled in triumph. The blonde wanted to roll his eyes but almost gagged as his stomach contents traveled up to his throat. "I'm not doing it," he decided the moment opening his mouth was safe. "It'd be a bigger faux pas if I threw up on them than if I don't show up," he whispered. 

"I'll get you to Sakura," Sasuke offered, his voice as disinterested as it could probably get. 

"She doesn't work in the hospital anymore," Shikamaru protested. Sasuke sent him a long, threatening look. "I don't have time for this," Shikamaru sighed. "Naruto, you're in deep shit-" 

"Tell me about it," Naruto grumbled. Everything was falling apart. He chose to forget about it, and, even if for a short while, let the others worry about it. Shikamaru would deal with the Fire Lord and the carpet stain, and Sasuke would lead him to Sakura. The blonde breathed in, shutting off his thoughts. After all, this wasn't exactly the end of his problems. "Why Sakura? If you wanted to see your wife-" 

"I have to tell your doctor that I might've been involved in whatever is wrong with you," Sasuke informed him in a hushed tone as they passed through the village. People were smiling at Naruto, and visibly trying not to look at Sasuke. Even after all these years, they still didn't trust him. "Sorry," Sasuke unexpectedly whispered. "I thought I was gentle enough but the technique wasn't exactly designed for-" 

"Brainwashing," Naruto supplied. Sasuke clicked his tongue in annoyance. "It's a good thing that you're not smart enough to pull it off," the blonde added, happy that Sasuke got what was coming for him. "But you sure took after your brother-" 

"Enough with my brother," Sasuke barked at him. 

“Fine, as you wish,” Naruto relented. He trudged after his best friend, trying to forget that it was a matter of hours or mere days till Sasuke was to leave again. It was clear that he didn't intend to come back. Perhaps he really saw no reason to be back. All he had in Konoha was Naruto, and Naruto simply wasn't enough. 

The blonde heaved a heavy sigh, and raised his head to smile at passing villagers. They had to believe everything was fine. Even if it wasn't. 

Naruto flinched when he walked right into Sasuke's back. They finally reached Sakura's house. It was good news since Naruto was about to empty his stomach again, and vomiting hokage wasn’t a common sight. 

“Good—,” Sakura choked on her words. The blonde had no idea whether she was more shocked to see Sasuke or him. Probably both. He looked away, suddenly ashamed. Sakura was his friend. She was supporting him in her own way when Sasuke was… away. She's been with him through all these years. And how was he repaying her? 

“Hey,” Sasuke greeted his wife. “I need your help,” he informed her. Sakura’s mouth was still hanging low. How long has it been since these two saw each other? A year? More than a year? 

“Hi, Sakura,” Naruto mumbled out. “Long time no see, eh?” 

“Yeah, I guess,” she replied, sounding completely out of it. “Sasuke, you're home! How long are you planning to stay?” 

“Till Naruto feels good enough to teleport me back,” Sasuke said. 

“…good enough… Naruto, what's wrong?” 

She seemed to be genuinely worrying about him. His well-being was to her more important than the fact that her husband returned home after over a year of absence. Naruto was just hoping that Sarada was away on a mission, so she wouldn't have to deal with her father's disinterested attitude. 

“Sasuke might have put me under a genjutsu,” the blonde answered, forcing a chuckle. It was awkward. It was so awkward. Knowing that he wished Sasuke wasn't with Sakura, that they didn't have any children— 

“Oh,” Sakura mumbled out. “And I guess something isn't right?” 

“He’s nauseous, he threw up a lot,” Sasuke started listing. “He’s too weak to teleport me back.” 

Naruto rolled his eyes. Suddenly, he felt as if his limbs weighed a ton each. His mind was ripping off his skeleton, leaving the heavy flesh behind. He was being pulled up by relentless force but his body didn't follow. 

“Sas—,” was all he managed to say before fainting. 

* * *

Naruto blinked his eyes, slowly coming back to his senses. He was laying on his side, on the floor. Warm hands were touching his forehead, sending minuscule chakra needles to probe into his brain. 

“Sakura,” he whispered. 

“I'm here,” she replied in a soothing voice. Naruto knew she was here, he could feel her chakra gently flowing into his body. It was relieving. 

“Naruto,” Sasuke said, sounding… guilty. He was sitting by a desk, observing them. 

“I'm fine,” Naruto assured him. He had no idea whether he was fine or not. 

“You’re not fine,” Sakura informed him matter-of-factly. “It’s a miracle you're not in a coma—“ 

“Ah, yes, that's the theme for today,” the blonde tried to joke. Sakura sent him a questioning look but he didn't continue the thought. She'd be hurt if she knew what exactly was in the genjutsu. 

“I called Hinata,” she said instead. “I can't send you home just yet but at least she knows where you are, and that you're safe. She's on her way here,” she informed him. 

“Thanks,” he replied. The sole idea of seeing his wife filled his heart with guilt and shame. She loved him. She loved him so much, and he… 

“When is he going to be fine?” Sasuke inquired, returning to his aloof self. 

“A couple of days,” the woman answered. “Maybe a week.” 

“Hn,” the brunette huffed. Naruto was certain that the man was wondering whether it would be more annoying to stay and wait or having to go all the way back to the hideout without most of his stuff. 

“You wanted to take a hot shower,” the blonde reminded him to sweeten him the stay. Sakura let out an almost inaudible sigh. She had to be hurting, being forced to see just how little her husband cared. 

Was it the same for Hinata? 

Were they regretting marrying their husbands, bearing their children? Have they ever wished they were with someone else? Someone, for whom their families would be more important? Someone, who'd return their love, all of it? 

Naruto stifled a whimper as Sakura turned him on his back, and started doing her magic with her fingers on his temples. 

“I remember you holding my heart,” he whispered, hoping he'd make her smile. Then he remembered what Sakura’s said to him in that genjutsu. Was it true? Did Sasuke rip his future wife's heart out? He stole a glance at Sasuke, who looked uncomfortable. Naruto sighed. Between the three of them, there weren't many things that could be said without bringing up unpleasant memories. “Why aren't you working at the hospital anymore? You're the best medic nin we have. Hell, you should be teaching others how—“ 

“I’m too busy for a full time job,” Sakura interrupted him, visibly trying to look pleased with her life. 

“Sarada's almost fifteen, she'll manage,” Sasuke grunted. 

“I don’t want her to _manage_ , I want her to be happy,” the woman replied. Naruto gulped. He shouldn't have brought a topic like this up. This whole situation was awkward enough. 

“You’re being overprotective,” Sasuke muttered. “She's usually away from home anyways, so you might as well do something you want to do.” 

“Being a medic isn't a nine to five job,” Sakura whispered. Naruto knew that if he was to say what Sasuke's just said, Sakura would be way more confident in telling him to go fuck himself. 

They were interrupted by a sound of knocking on the doors. The blonde couldn't stop the frown from appearing on his face. His wife was the last person they needed to make this the most awful reunion ever. 

“Don’t tell Hinata I'm like this because of Sasuke,” he pleaded. Sakura gave him a grateful look and left the room to let Hinata in. Of course she was grateful. Sasuke, theoretically, did attack the currently residing hokage, and Sasuke was Sakura's husband, so the fewer people knew about it, the better. It wasn't that Naruto didn't trust his wife to keep a secret, she would never betray him but she's never been a fan of Sasuke, and something like this wouldn't help his case. 

“I don't need you to cover for me,” Sasuke informed him in an icy tone. 

“Do you want to tell her and Sakura what that genjutsu exactly was?” Naruto barked back. The brunette looked away to stare at the wall as if it murdered his beloved pet. “I thought so,” Naruto yapped. He wanted to taunt his friend a little more but he heard the two women talking, so he promptly shut up to eavesdrop on them. 

“You’re just in time,” Sakura chirped. 

“What about N-Naruto? Is he alright? What's happened—“ 

“Don't worry about him, he just… overworked himself. He simply needs to recover. It's nothing serious, it's just time-consuming.” 

“Oh,” Hinata mumbled out, entering the room. Only now has Naruto noticed that he was moved into a bright bedroom, which obviously belonged to Sarada. He was still lying on the floor, though. “Naruto,” Hinata whispered, audibly panicking. 

All Naruto felt was shame and guilt, guilt and shame. These two feelings defined him, there was nothing more, there was no place for anything more. 

“Hi,” her greeted his wife. He was about to stand up but Sasuke stopped him, his bare foot pushing him back onto the floor. 

“I'll get you to the hospital,” she offered. The blonde gulped. He couldn’t go to hospital. Medics would probably immediately notice that it was something more than a simple case of overwork and stress. 

“There’s no need, I'll take care of him,” Sakura supplied. “Besides, he’s still too weak to walk there on his own, and carrying him there would just put an unnecessary strain on him, so…” 

“Yeah, Hinata, I'll be fine,” Naruto assured his terrified wife. “And, like, if I was in the hospital, Shikamaru would probably bring me the paperwork, and people would want to visit me, and in here I can just relax, and—“ 

“Uh, well, if you say so,” she mumbled out, audibly not convinced that this truly was the best option. “I brought you all dinner,” she said, handing Sakura a big linen bag. Then she slightly bowed her head. “Sasuke, it's good to see you. What's bringing you here?” 

“It’s good to see you too,” Sasuke replied to the greeting. “I was nearby, so I thought I might as well come here,” he explained in a bored tone, lying through his teeth. 

“That’s wonderful,” Hinata smiled. “Naruto, Sasuke probably wanted to spend some time with his family, we shouldn't be bothering them. I'll take you home, and ask Shizune to come,” she innocently suggested. 

“Ah, that's, well…” Naruto blabbered. “Shizune's probably swamped with work, and there's so many patients, and I'd hate to impose,” he chuckled nervously. “And, like, if I did that, it would be special treatment, and that's just _awful_ , so, like, I just can't.” 

“He won't be bothering us,” Sakura agreed. “It’s been long since we've last seen him, so,” she trailed off, probably realizing that Hinata could say exactly the same thing. Sakura shook her head in a sad manner, sending Hinata a faint smile. “Don’t worry, I'll take care of him,” she promised. Hinata nodded, replying with an equally polite and fake smile. 

“If you really think it's for the best,” she relented. “If it becomes inconvenient, just let me know,” she added before waving her small hand and turning on her heel to leave. Sakura immediately stood up to walk her to the doors, and both women left the room. 

“A truly heartwarming scene,” Sasuke muttered. Naruto had no idea how to answer to that, so he simply glared at the other man, pretending he was above senseless bickering. Luckily for him, Sakura returned. 

“Naruto, Hinata's brought you a change of clothes,” she sighed. “You may as well take a shower and wear something clean. I’ll take care of your injuries afterwards,” she decided. 

“Sure,” he mumbled out. “Uh, Sasuke, you wanted to take shower as well,” he reminded his friend. “Do you want to go after or before me?” 

“You threw up at me, I'm going first,” the man told him, and left the room. 

* * *

Sasuke relished in the feeling of hot water flowing down his body. He'd forgotten how pleasant it was, how relaxing. Only now he's realized how cold he’s been this whole time, how much he needed it. 

And yet he felt out of place. He got used to being constantly on the move, he's been living this way for over twenty years. His _house_ didn’t feel like home at all. It wasn't a place he wanted to stay in for more than a few… actually, he didn't even want to come there at all. 

Being in Konoha was unpleasant. Nobody wanted him there but it didn't really bother him since he couldn't care less about what some random people thought of him. Konoha was the reason his family was murdered. Itachi sacrificed himself for that stupid village but everyone thought him to be a traitor. Sakura was clearly disappointed with her life, and, even if she wasn’t voicing it anymore, she clearly blamed Sasuke for it. 

Sasuke had a family that didn't feel like his family at all. _His_ family had been slaughtered for _the greater good._ This one existed only to keep him in check and as a way of making sure his blood limit would survive. 

He had no reason to be here. 

He rinsed the suds off his body, and left the shower to dry himself with a towel. 

He should leave. He _had_ to leave. 

* * *

Naruto looked as Sasuke entered the room, barefooted, dressed in a grey thin cotton t-shirt and a pair of black sweat pants, his hair unbrushed, visibly wet, his skin still pink from the shower. To be honest, Naruto was surprised Sasuke even kept a change of clothes in there.  

“Your turn,” Sasuke grunted, taking a seat next to a plain wooden desk. The blonde gingerly nodded, happy he'd finally be able to freshen up. 

When he came back about ten minutes later, he found Sasuke in the exact same position he'd left him, his hair still unbrushed. He wondered where Sasuke was going to sleep. He obviously wasn’t too keen to go to his and Sakura's bedroom. Naruto would've offered him the bed he was supposed to stay in but he was their guest, and— 

He felt as if both Sasuke and he were guests. Even the idea that the house he was currently in actually belonged to Sasuke, that it was _his_ home, was strange. It all felt fake, a paper thin lie everybody chose to believe in because it was easier. 

“Hey,” he mumbled out to greet the brunette, who did nothing to acknowledge that Naruto just entered the room.  

“You're done,” Sakura yelled, audibly relieved that she'd finally have something to do, that this whole situation would stop being so awkward. Up till now all three of them were on separate planes of existence but now they all had a purpose and a role to fulfill, and it was so much easier to act according to the script than to ponder over why everything had to feel so out of place. “Lie on your back, I’ll try to fix as much as I can,” she promised while entering the room. 

“Sure,” Naruto agreed, taking his place on the bed. “I'm already feeling better, thanks.” 

“It’s nothing,” Sakura murmured. She kept looking at Sasuke but her husband's eyes were still glued to the wall, uninterested and blank. “But I haven't even started to heal you yet, the session before was just for the symptoms,” she sighed. “I did a short scan of your brain, some parts do feel slightly damaged,” she whispered as if she was apologizing to him. 

“I know I'm in good hands,” he chirped. She sent him a warm smile, and it seemed that it was the first real one in years. He closed his eyes as she placed her cold hands on his temples, her soothing chakra surging into his brain. 

“I might not be able to fix all of it,” she said. “It’s brain, it practically doesn’t regenerate,” she complained. 

“That's bad,” Naruto realized. 

“…sorry,” Sasuke said, his voice hoarse and inhuman. 

“The damaged part is the one responsible for long term memory,” she continued. “It’s not badly damaged but, nevertheless, you may start losing your memories faster than most people. Or they might become foggy,” she explained. “The other possibility is that you've already lost something you're not aware of, like a plot of a book you've read a long time ago, or… it could be a number of other things.” 

“This sucks,” the blonde whined. “Sasuke, why would you—“ 

“I’ll remind you what you've forgotten,” Sasuke interrupted him. Naruto opened his eyes to see his friend sitting on a chair, his elbow resting on his right thigh, his face tense. 

“Like, yeah, I don't think so,” Naruto chuckled. If Sakura wasn’t there,  he’d remind Sasuke that he'd already had his shot at brainwashing him, so he wasn’t taking any more chances but Sakura _was_ there. She wouldn't see it for the joke it was, she'd want to know how and why Sasuke tried to brainwash him, and Naruto wasn't ready for a conversation like this. He generally didn't like talking about Sasuke with people, who weren't Sasuke. Nobody could ever understand their bond, nobody would ever understand Sasuke. Even he didn't always understand Sasuke but he at least was trying to do it. 

“Shush,” Sakura ordered him, so he listened. 

None of them spoke for the next three hours. 

* * *

Sasuke breathed in, observing Sakura grab her things and leave the room. She didn't ask him to go with her. She didn't say anything as she brought a futon, she didn't even look at him as she wished them good night, and left the room. He wasn't certain whether he replied or not. He definitely heard Naruto make a little chit chat, but did he— 

“So, which one of us takes the bed?” the blonde interrupted his train of thought. 

“It’s all yours,” Sasuke rasped back. 

“I see, I see,” Naruto chirped, his voice cheery in an obviously fake way. Sasuke watched his friend do a hand seal and summon a clone. Within seconds, the clone disappeared with a silent pop noise. “Ah, fuck, it still hurts,” he complained. “Bravo, you've rendered hokage useless,” he sighed. “If you want to take over the world, now’s the time,” he concluded, plopping on the bed. 

“I’ve left my cape at home and my theme music isn't ready yet,” Sasuke replied, mostly to humor the blonde. “Besides, you still have your taijutsu.” 

“Ah, yes, I’ll be fine as long as you don't use your sharingan or rinnegan,” Naruto whined. 

“I have just one arm,” Sasuke reminded him, already getting tired of this conversation. He raised his head as he heard knocking on the doors. 

“Sorry, I forgot you two haven't eaten yet,” Sakura said, sending them a sheepish smile. She entered the room, and handed them two plates. “Hinata cooked it, it looks delicious,” she added. The food did look appetizing. “If you're still hungry after this, I can cook you something else—“ 

“Ow, come on, Sakura, we’ll just make something ourselves,” Naruto chimed in. “Thanks for everything, sorry for the trouble, you're great,” he grinned at her. “She used to be so lively,” Naruto hummed under his nose immediately after she left.  

“I guess,” Sasuke muttered in reply. They sat in an uncomfortable silence for the next ten minutes or so. Finally Sasuke set his empty plate away, and got up to prepare himself the futon. 

“Uh, so,” the blonde mumbled out, evidently uncertain about where he wanted to go from there, “I'll teleport you back—“ 

“No need, I'm leaving tomorrow morning,” Sasuke interrupted him. 

“What?! It'll take you _days_ to get there, you might as well wait here, I, mean, like, I heal fast, so, I don't know, just _stay here_?” Naruto blabbered. 

“Being here is worse than going back there on foot,” Sasuke confessed. 

“It can't be _this_ bad,” Naruto disagreed. 

“When was the last time _you_ were home? And I mean _you_ , not just a clone,” Sasuke hissed. The blonde looked away, his face red with shame. “I thought so,” he barked. 

“This whole thing is screwed up,” Naruto sighed. “Fine, Sasuke. I understand why you want to get away. Just don't disappear in the morning, wake me up and I'll at least see you off to the doors.” 

“Fine,” Sasuke relented, slowly relaxing into sleep. 

* * *

“What do you mean _this isn't r_ _eal_?” Naruto demanded to know. He stared at the face of the boy lying just opposite of him. A very confused face. The blonde let out an exasperated sigh. “Seriously, what do you mean by ‘this isn't real'?” 

“I have no idea what you're talking about,” Sasuke replied in a dismissive tone. “You must've misheard me,” the boy rolled his eyes. He turned on his back, and stretched his limbs, quietly grunting. “We need to find a better place to sleep,” he decided. 

“I'm not sleeping in Orochimaru's bed,” Naruto barked. He couldn't shake off the feeling that something wasn't right. 

Besides, just a while ago Sasuke looked absolutely miserable, but now he was acting as if nothing's happened. Naruto bit the inside of his cheek, deep in thought. Then he remembered that their last conversation started when he gave Sasuke his protector back. Naruto sat up on the hard mattress, which creaked as if it was hundreds of years old, and reached into his bag. Soon enough, his fingers felt the cold metal. _What was going on?!_ He pulled the protector out, and showed it to Sasuke, who was busy rubbing his eyes.  

“Sasuke, I've just given it to you,” he mumbled out, unable to hide the panicked overtones of his voice. “Just now, you were crying, Sasuke—“ 

“Why would I be crying?” Sasuke inquired. He completely ignored the headband. 

“I thanked you for choosing to stay alive, and then, and then you've said that _this isn't real_ , and,” Naruto choked on air, uncertain about what more he should say. He must've sounded like a madman. Sasuke was staring at him with strange intensity, his blind eye unfocused. “Sasuke, _is_ this real?” 

“Of course it is,” the other boy assured him. “It’s too awful to not be real,” he continued. “You’re probably experiencing some side effects of that genjutsu, after all we ran away immediately after we regained consciousness, we’re still not fully healed,” he explained, sounding worried. “I can't really do anything about it, though.” 

“Right,” Naruto sighed, taking a deep breath. Sasuke’s words seemed perfectly sensible. He must have been still groggy, there was no way that _this_ wasn't real, that the other world was the real one, it didn't make any sense— 

He was with Sasuke, everything was just how it was supposed to be. He _wasn't_ a failure of a hokage, he _wasn't_ a disappointing father, he _wasn't_ a bad husband. None of that was real. That other world didn't make any sense. It didn't make sense that Sakura and he almost completely stopped talking. He couldn't believe he'd let Sasuke leave like this. There was no way his family would be living with a clone, and not him. In that other world everyone he knew was lonely even after everything they'd went through together. For fuck's sake, the world almost ended. Then why— 

“Calm down,” Sasuke whispered, his tone unusually warm. “You’ve said that this, that being here with me was what you wanted. Or are you having second thoughts?” 

“I'm not,” the blonde replied the moment Sasuke's mouth closed. “It’s just… I can't shake off this feeling that something isn't right,” he confessed, rubbing his face. “Ahh, forget it. I guess I'm simply tired and stressed. It's nothing I haven't dealt with before.” 

Sasuke sent him a long look. 

“If you say so,” he relented, getting up from the mattress. “Let's find something to eat.” 

* * *

Naruto woke up with a loud wheeze, clutching the sheets with his hand—his hands? Why did he have two hands, two working arms, and— 

He looked around, trying to see anything in the darkness. It was a room. A regular room, not a cell, not something out of Orochimaru's hideouts. Where the fuck was he? What's happened to him, why did he feel so lost, why couldn't he remember anything? He left the bed, quietly, to not alert the people, who might've captured him and— 

Naruto breathed out in relief when he noticed Sasuke lying on the futon just across the room. He walked towards him, and gently shook him awake, praying that Sasuke wouldn't make a noise. The brunette opened his eyes, looking tired and unhappy. 

“What do you want?” Sasuke muttered, visibly refraining himself from yawning. This was weird. They were gods knew where, and yet Sasuke was absolutely calm, not startled. He also looked older than Naruto remembered him to be. He was _twice_ as old as he should've been. The blonde yelped in confusion. Was this that other world? 

“Is this real?” He asked in a pained whisper. 

“What?” Sasuke stared at him, stared at him with both of his eyes, neither was blind— 

“The other you has said that the other world was real, that it had to be real but now I'm here again, and—Sasuke, is this the real one? Please, just tell me—“ 

“It’s the real one,” Sasuke replied, his pupils dilated. “Naruto, what's going on? What other me?” 

“I was _there_ , with you, and now, now I'm here,” the blonde whispered, his words rushed and uncertain. “Where are we?” 

“You don't know?” Sasuke sounded panicked. “We’re at Sakura's, she’s fixing you,” he explained. “It’s my fault that you're… confused,” he confessed. “I've put you under a genjutsu to prove a point but it seems I've damaged your brain,” he continued without hesitation. “What you've seen was probably just a dream, and you're simply tired. Go back to sleep, you'll feel better in morning,” he promised. 

Naruto rose to his feet, his legs weak and heavy. What Sasuke's said sounded rational and real, and yet it didn't make any sense. He’d already been put under genjutsu but nothing of the sort had happened. He would just wake up, and everything was the way it was supposed to be. He knew what was real. Now… now there was nothing. 

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i can't manage the length of my chapters so  
> this one is shorter  
> and the third one is a monstrosity  
> this is how it works.  
> also, the third one comes out tomorrow.
> 
> yeee~


	3. with me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> huh, I kind of expected it to upload itself if I set the date??? but it didn't???
> 
> anyways
> 
> here u go

Sasuke listened with closed eyes, praying Naruto would go back to sleep. The blonde needed almost two hours for that. When Sasuke heard ragged snoring, he quietly unwrapped himself from the futon, and left the room. Within seconds he was standing in front of Sakura's bedroom. He took a deep breath, and softly knocked on the doors. He didn't have to wait long for the doors to be opened.

“What's wrong?” Sakura asked him, still groggy and sleepy. She stifled a yawn, and stared at him expectedly.

“Naruto is getting worse,” Sasuke answered. Talking to Sakura was awkward. It always was clear that she was pining after him, he's told her time after time that he didn't and wouldn't reciprocate her feelings but it didn’t work. Even now, after everything she's been through, she was still crushing on him. At least she wasn’t as obvious about it, so it was easier to ignore. He partially expected her to think that he’s appeared in her doorway because he wanted to sleep with her but it seemed that she believed it to be just as abstract as he did.

“Worse how?” She demanded to know, her forehead creasing with worry. She almost started marching towards her daughter's bedroom but Sasuke stopped her, placing his hand on her arm. She froze under his touch, clearly not expecting it. He immediately removed his hand. She didn’t need any distractions, he couldn't afford to have her distracted.

“He doesn’t know what's real,” he explained. “It shouldn't be happening.”

“…oh,” she mumbled out. “You've injured the part of his brain, which is responsible for declarative memory,” she said. “What have you shown him?”

“Does it matter?” Sasuke asked.

“I'm asking as a medic,” she replied, visibly hurt. “You don't have to tell me any details if you don't want to,” she added, looking away.

“…he was disappointed with himself as a hokage, so I showed him what could’ve happened if he never became one,” he replied. Technically, it wasn't a lie. “The genjutsu lasted just ten seconds or so. _This_ shouldn't be happening—“

“I see,” Sakura sighed, sounding unconvinced. “I'll go check on him.”

* * *

“What's wrong with you?” Sasuke asked, sounding annoyed and tired. Naruto looked at the boy sitting just opposite of him on one of the chairs, clearly waiting for an answer. The blonde followed Sasuke's eyes, noticing that his thumb was bleeding. He had to cut himself with a knife he was holding in his left, his _only_ hand. “It's pissing me off that I've lost to someone like you.”

“Yeah, heh, well,” Naruto mumbled out. He was lost again. Just a moment ago he was in that other world. The other Sasuke assured him that the other world was the real one. It made perfect sense back then but now it didn't. He was here, in one of Orochimaru’s hideouts, with Sasuke. He knew where he was. He didn't know that when he was in there. This was how dreams were supposed to be, right? Dreams didn't have to make sense, they just seemed like they did but only when one was dreaming, and _this_ , this world, it seemed so real.

Sasuke's said that this confusion could stem from the genjutsu. No wonder. _This_ genjutsu lasted for a few months. It's natural that he'd still feel lost every now and then. Naruto shook his head, forcing himself to focus. They couldn't afford to be distracted.

“You have to teach me how to form seals with just one hand,” he said.

“You're not completely helpless, right?” Sasuke questioned, looking somewhat concerned. “We don't have time to train right now, we should gather what we can, and leave. We're still too close to Konoha.”

“I can't even form a rasengan,” Naruto complained.

“Oh, don't worry, I'll _protect you_. For the old times sake—“

“You're kind of annoying today,” the blonde barked at Sasuke. He hated that smug smirk of his. Hated it. And missed it. Gods, how much he missed it. “Also, however you look at it, you're rather out of shape,” he added, staring at the other boy. Both of them lost some weight. Most of it seemed to be muscles. It's been four months. The world was probably still in a state of disarray but they were screwed nonetheless.

“It's not like you're the picture of good health,” Sasuke hissed at him. The blonde rolled his eyes. He was well aware of this. “ _This_ is what you wanted. You wanted to come with me, _this_ is how it looks like—“

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Naruto interrupted him and sent him an assuring grin. Sasuke just huffed, apparently deciding he was too good to continue the conversation. “I'm just saying,” the blonde continued, “that we need to get into the fighting state asap. Because right now it's the best time to capture us.”

“You can always claim I've brainwashed you,” Sasuke sighed.

“And I wouldn't be lying,” Naruto snorted. The other boy glared at him, clearly displeased with the comment. “But you know very well I'd never say that.”

“You’re an idiot,” Sasuke replied. He was trying to hide the fact that he was smiling but his efforts were in vain. “The sooner we leave, the sooner we can take care of getting back in shape. Eat up. We’ll scavenge the place, and get the hell out of here.”

Naruto nodded. This was where he was supposed to be.

* * *

“It doesn't look good,” Sakura stated under her breath. Naruto was still sleeping, and she was probing into his brain. The blonde didn't even notice that someone was infusing him with chakra. As far, as Sasuke was concerned, it wasn’t the _it doesn’t look good_ , this was _it's a fucking catastrophe_. “There's more damage. I have no idea how it's even possible, I've never heard of something like this,” she whispered.

“We need to get him to the hospital,” Sasuke decided. He hated himself for being so selfish, for trying to hide that it was all his fault. And for what? Because he thought it to be annoying. Because he didn't want to face another trial. Because he didn't want Naruto to pardon him again.

“It's no use,” Sakura informed him. “Naruto was right about one thing, I _am_ the best medic nin Konoha has. If I don't know what's going on, nobody else does—“

“You don’t know that,” Sasuke growled. “You don't have to cover for me, I’ll be fine—“

“You're my husband,” Sakura replied. “I’d be able to get him into hospital without informing anyone about what you've done. Everybody would suspect you but neither me nor Naruto would tell on you. And you know that.”

Sasuke glared at her. Perhaps she was right.

“Wouldn't it be better then if he got there? You can just help them—“

“They wouldn't let me,” Sakura interrupted him. Sasuke waited for her to explain _why_ but she didn't. He rose to his feet, and paced around the room. He was angry at himself for casting that stupid genjutsu. He was angry at Naruto for coming to visit him. He was angry at Sakura for not being able to help Naruto. However he looked at it though, it was all his fault. He couldn't leave. Naruto wouldn't be able to protect Konoha if something was to happen, and the word of hokage's mysterious absence would reach the other villages within days.

“You're supposed to be the best, so _why_ wouldn't they let you help them?!” Sasuke asked, unable to hide his anger.

“…I’ve told you they would suspect you. They would suspect you from the very beginning. They would know I was helping you cover the fact that there was a serious problem with Naruto. Hinata would know, and she wouldn't think twice if she believed telling on us could save her husband,” she whispered after a while of hesitation. She looked guilty. As if it was her fault. Sasuke hated it. He had neither will nor patience to console her. He threw his arms in the air, feeling more and more hopeless. He screwed up. Naruto was the only thing he had, and he screwed it up.

He was absolutely helpless. Orochimaru and Kabuto had invented and uncovered so many medical techniques, and he'd never asked about them, believing them to be a waste of his time. He had had a perfect opportunity to learn something useful, and he’d ignored it.

“Maybe there's something in Orochimaru's scrolls,” he whispered. The closest hideout was about five days away from Konoha. The possibility that there indeed was anything related to whatever Naruto was suffering from was extremely slim. But he would at least be doing _something._ Being here wouldn't accomplish anything—

Konoha would be left defenseless.

Personally, he hated the village with all his heart. But Itachi and Naruto loved it. Ignoring how many times the village hurt them, ignoring how it was ruining them.

Naruto was in here.

If he left and Konoha got attacked, there was a possibility that Naruto would be killed. Actually, if somebody plotted against Naruto, now was the best time to kill him. Sakura probably wouldn't be able to defend him. Sasuke wanted to scream. He needed to stay in Konoha. He needed to leave. A clone would disappear before reaching the hideout. He should've learned Naruto's stupid technique.

“I need someone to go there, and read through the scrolls,” he decided. He couldn't think of anyone, whom he could entrust the task. Sakura had to stay here. He needed to stay here. He had no idea where Taka was, and he had no means of contacting them. Sasuke rubbed his face, trying to come up with _any_ solution. If the roles were reversed, Naruto would've been able to help him. “Where’s Sarada?”

“She’s on a mission,” Sakura answered, giving him a fake smile. Maybe she was disappointed he hadn’t asked about his daughter before. He didn't care.

“I doubt it's anything important,” Sasuke barked. Ninjas weren't even needed anymore. They were a thing of the past, within ten or fifteen years Konoha would probably transform into a regular town. “I'll send her a hawk with the map, and tell her to go and search for anything useful—“

“Boruto and she are on the same team. I doubt she'd be able to hide something like this from him,” Sakura noticed. “Not to mention that she’s fourteen years old—“

“So what?” Sasuke interrupted her. “When I was fourteen—“

“She's not you,” Sakura said under her breath. “I promise, I'll save Naruto,” she whispered, sounding as if she was about to cry. “He's strong, so _please_ , believe in him. He’ll come back.”

* * *

They were on the road again. They flew on one of Sasuke's summons for a while but, eventually, they had to land. A giant bird was rather noticeable. Naruto sighed, trudging next to his friend. His legs hurt. Two days ago Sakura insisted on him using a wheelchair, and now he finally understood why. He was in no condition to walk. He was guessing that neither was Sasuke, even if the boy refused to complain about being tired.

“Where are we even going?” He asked instead.

“As far away as we can,” Sasuke informed him in a flat voice. “Why do you ask?”

“No reason,” Naruto sighed. The realization that the life on the run was almost as fitting for him as being a goddamn politician finally dawned on him. “Did you always just walk around aimlessly?”

“What?” Sasuke questioned, clearly too tired to get annoyed.

“When you were running away from me—“

“I wasn’t running away from _you_ ,” the brunette interrupted Naruto. “There's more to my life than just you,” he snapped. Naruto frowned. Well, at the time there wasn't much to his life aside from Sasuke. No wonder people kept saying he was obsessed. “And I wasn’t walking around _aimlessly_ ,” Sasuke continued, “I've always had a target—“

“Well now we _don't_ ,” the blonde complained. His life's always had a purpose—becoming a hokage, getting Sasuke back, and then… then it had no purpose. He’s gotten what he'd hoped to achieve by becoming a hokage without becoming one. He kind of got Sasuke back. Now they were just running away. What were they going to do after they'll decide that there's enough distance between them and the nearest hostile civilization? Well, fine, they'll have to return to their former glory but then what?

“It's not a field trip,” Sasuke hissed. “What, did you think it'll be all fun and games? _You wanted to be here with me_ —“

“I do,” Naruto mumbled out. He was ashamed of himself. “Sorry,” he added. “I'm not used to,” _having nowhere to return to,_ “any of this,” he sighed. “I know you're probably just as lost as I am.”

“I'm not lost,” Sasuke disagreed, simultaneously stifling a yawn. It was night already. They've been on the road for more than ten hours, and they didn't dare to stop for longer than ten minutes. “We should find someplace to rest,” the boy decided. “It should be fine as long as one if us keeps watch.”

“Sure,” the blonde agreed, maybe a little too hastily. Still, he didn’t want Sasuke to change his mind. He was dead tired, and he knew they would have to walk for at least few more days.

Sasuke was clearly the one in charge. Naruto wasn't certain how he felt about this or even how Sasuke felt about it. However, the blonde was used to following other people. Yeah, he usually took initiative when it came to fighting but planning things out wasn’t exactly his forte. It's always been someone else, who was deciding for him where he'd go. Well, he persuaded Kakashi and Yamato to go to the Five Kages Summit but that was to save Sasuke. Even though it became rather obvious that Sasuke didn't need Naruto to save him. And yet, even then it was Yamato, who made it possible, not Naruto. Perhaps he really wasn’t destined to be a leader. He knew how to fight, he knew how to empathize with others but he knew nothing about giving orders. Unlike Sasuke. Sasuke had Taka. Sasuke didn't need others to tell him what to do, he didn't need others to come up with new things he could train to better himself.

“I'm kind of a deadweight to you, huh?” Naruto blurted out.

“I guess,” Sasuke admitted. Of course, the boy didn't even stop to think whether it was a nice thing to say. Naruto wasn't too hurt by it, he actually admired Sasuke’s honesty, even when it bordered on being cruel.

“…then why did you want to come with me?”

“ _You_ wanted to come with _me_ ,” Sasuke pointed out. “I assumed you wanted to keep me company. I don't mind you being here, though—“

“How dear of you,” the blonde snorted.

“You've said you love me,” Sasuke sighed. Naruto's cheeks turned deep red. He did say it. In anger, but he did. And he meant it. Still, hearing Sasuke say it so casually was kind of embarrassing. “And that you wanted me to let you stay with me.”

“Well, yeah but—“

“You'll stop being a deadweight soon enough,” Sasuke interrupted him. “I'll manage till then.”

“Oh,” Naruto mumbled out. So it was this simple. Sasuke clearly didn't think much of it. The boy slumped on the grass, and rubbed his eyes. Apparently Sasuke decided it was the right place to stay and rest. The blonde sat next to him. “Are we going to light a fire?”

“Why not,” Sasuke replied. He didn't move even for an inch for the next few minutes. Naruto let out a soft chuckle, and stood up to gather some firewood. Twenty minutes later he came back with enough to last them for at least two hours. They'd get more later on. He placed the sticks and logs in a more or less orderly manner, and poked Sasuke to get his attention.

“Do your thing,” he said, sitting next to the brunette. His legs were killing him. He was pretty certain he wouldn't be physically able to stand up again. Sasuke threw a small fireball, and soon they could enjoy the pleasant warmth. “I can take the first watch,” Naruto offered. The brunette nodded, reached to the bag, took out some food and a blanket. Naruto followed his example. They bundled themselves up, and started munching on dry food. “This brings back memories,” Naruto noticed. “From when we were still going on missions together.”

“Yeah,” Sasuke agreed. He looked eerily content. The blonde half expected him to say that he hated everything about those times. To his surprise, Sasuke scuttled closer to him. “It’s so fucking cold,” he complained. Naruto hummed, opening his blanket up and throwing an arm over the other boy’s shoulders. His heart fluttered in his chest. It was ridiculous. He wouldn't have had any issues with being this physical with Sasuke if he didn't know they both _loved_ each other. What was he even supposed to do now? Tell Sasuke he was pretty and give him a smooch on the forehead? Naruto snorted at how absurd it seemed. Sasuke would probably kick him in the face, believing that he was an impostor. Being like this, however, felt nice. Sasuke's presence was unexpectedly comforting.

“I'm glad you stayed with me,” Sasuke whispered.

* * *

Naruto let out a loud wheeze, realizing he fell asleep even though he was supposed to keep watch. He was just about to wake Sasuke up when he noticed that they were no longer in the forest, no, he was… lying on his back in a bed, something heavy resting on his stomach. He reached with his hand—

He had two hands again.

“Sas—,” he said in a shattered whisper.

“Naruto? What's going on?” Sasuke murmured back. He must've been sleeping with his head resting on Naruto but his voice still managed to sound alerted and focused.

And worried.

Naruto felt himself panicking again. He was in that other world, wasn't he?

“Do you know where you are?” Sasuke inquired. “This is Sakura's house, you're here because there's something wrong with you. It's all my fault—“

“Don't beat yourself up about it,” Naruto sighed. He had no idea what Sasuke was going on about. This world was a product of his subconsciousness, this is what the real Sasuke's said. Perhaps his subconsciousness _was_ blaming Sasuke. After all, the boy did put him into a coma. Naruto had right to be upset over it. Nevertheless, hearing Sasuke sounding so defeated and helpless was painful. Even if this Sasuke didn't exist.

“Don't be ridiculous,” Sasuke whispered. “Your condition is getting worse, your brain is slowly degenerating. Sakura has no idea what's going on with you. She's repaired what she could but she had to rest. She's used all of hers and mine chakra reserves,” he kept talking. Naruto didn't really care. His _illness_ was probably his brain trying to make sense out of the dream. The only thing worrying him was that he probably fell asleep while he was supposed to keep watch. “Naruto,” Sasuke muttered, catching the blonde's attention. “Hinata, your wife, is coming to see you. She'll be here in an hour or so—“

“Isn't it funny that she's my wife?” Naruto wondered. “I mean, we've never been particularly close,” he continued. “Wouldn't it make more sense if I got married to Sakura?”

Sasuke slowly blinked, his face absolutely unreadable. Naruto was amazed at how good of a Sasuke impression his mind was able to pull off. “Hinata is your wife. You married her because you fell in love with her—“

“Yeah, yeah, up there, on the moon,” Naruto chuckled. “I guess I'm with Hinata because otherwise you would've been alone,” he sighed. “Although, now that I think about it… I've stopped crushing on Sakura a long time ago,” he continued, ignoring Sasuke's terrified stare. “Hinata—“

“Shut up,” Sasuke pleaded. “I don't know what you're thinking but _this_ is the real world,” he hissed. “You're married to a woman you fell in love with, you have two children—“

“Who have whiskers on their cheeks,” the blonde snorted. “I guess _I_ got pregnant. They kind of look like Hyuugas, so either Hinata has a penis or I got lucky with Hiashi—“

Naruto was interrupted when Sasuke's fist connected with his jaw. It hurt. He could swear he heard a loud cracking noise. Shouldn't he wake up by now? He couldn't remember when was the last time he was dreaming and in so much pain.

 _“This_ is real, _I am real,_ your life _in here_ is real,” Sasuke yelled at him. “Stop making ridiculous jokes,” he ordered. “It's made perfect sense up till now, so why do you question it—“

“Because it doesn't make any sense,” Naruto whispered. His mouth was bleeding. He had to cut his lip with his teeth when Sasuke hit him. “I would never let you go on some stupid redemption journey on your own! You don't even need a fucking redemption journey, and you'd never come up with something this ridiculous,” he barked. “And come on, Sasuke. A trip to the moon? Even I’m not stupid enough to not know that there's no oxygen in there—“

Sasuke stared at him, wide-eyed, pale as snow, his long fingers clutching the sheet, digging into the mattress. He didn't say anything. He wasn't saying anything for the longest while, as if he was processing everything he's just heard. Naruto wanted to congratulate himself. He was able to convince his mind that the illusion made no sense. He hoped _this_ was the last time he dreamed of this place. After a few more minutes of awkward silence Sasuke rose from the knees, and left the room without saying anything. Naruto rubbed his face. He wanted to wake up. His stomach grumbled. Oh. He must've been seriously hungry if he felt it even in a dream—

“Sasuke, for all we know, this might do even more damage to Naruto's brain, so,” Sakura exclaimed, running into the room immediately after Sasuke barged through the doors, “please, don't do anything rush, something you might later regret—“

“It won't get any worse than this,” Sasuke snapped at her. “Make him go asleep, I'm going in.”

“…what?” Naruto asked, feeling completely and absolutely dumbfounded. “What do you mean _going in_ , like, it sounds obscene, especially if you want me to be asleep while—“

“Shut your face,” Sasuke barked, unfazed by the comment.

“This would be an extremely invasive technique, for all we know it might make everything worse,” Sakura protested. “You're almost out of chakra, so that's also another reason why we shouldn't—“

“Just do it, Sakura,” Sasuke muttered. “He's losing his grasp on reality, it's getting worse with every fucking minute, I'm not going to wait for you to finally come up with a solution, especially since whatever you're doing is not working—“

“Stop being so mean, Sakura's doing her best,” Naruto blabbered. The woman apparently didn't hear him defending her, she looked as if she was about to burst out crying. Sasuke, on the other hand, did hear him. He seemed furious.

“You've lost your mind, you have no say in—“

“I believe I do,” Naruto pointed out. “And even if I didn't, shouldn't it be Hinata, who's making my decisions for me?”

Sasuke closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. Annoying him beyond belief, even if he was a figment of Naruto's imagination, was rather entertaining. Nevertheless, he had to go back to the real Sasuke. Going with the flow of the dream was probably the fastest way to make it stop. “Do it, Sakura,” he sighed. “Put me to sleep and let Sasuke have his fun.”

“…as your doctor, I strongly advise you against it,” she whispered.

“Are you out of your mind?!” Sasuke yelled at her. “Do you _want_ him to become mad? Can't you see what's happening—“

“Do it, Sakura,” the blonde interrupted the other man. “It’s still my decision to make, nobody declared me insane yet, and I don't plan to be declared a madman. It would totally ruin my image,” he chuckled. “Or what's left of it,” he sighed.

“…fine,” she relented. It was clear that she still thought it to be a terrible idea. She hesitantly left the room to come back with a weird smelling concoction. Naruto took a deep breath and drunk it in one go.

* * *

Sasuke coughed, feeling as if he was drowning for the last four minutes, and only now he could breathe again. He was dizzy, his head hurt, and he felt as if he was about to faint. He's been sleeping, right? He had to, after all Naruto promised to take the first watch, and he had no idea what's happened during the last few hours, so—

Sasuke shook his head, hearing a faint snoring. Of course. He leaned over the sleeping boy, grabbed him by the arm, and squeezed it to wake him up.

“…what?” Naruto mumbled out a stupid question.

“You were supposed to—“

“Shit, sorry,” the blonde yelped, suddenly getting up, and hitting Sasuke's face with his head in the process. “Shit, sorry, like, seriously, sorry. For falling asleep and for… fuck, Sasuke, your nose is bleeding,” he blurted out in one breath. His bottom lip was bleeding, he must’ve bit himself. Sasuke didn't even have time to complain since Naruto's fingers immediately wandered to his face, as if they could stop the bleeding. Funny how he's never been bothered by Naruto touching him for no apparent reason.

“I’ll be fine,” he muttered instead, not certain about what he should do with fingers smearing the blood all over his face, and with the fact that Naruto looked as if he's done the worst possible thing by being careless. “I guess we've both had some sleep,” Sasuke commented in a sour tone. Perhaps he should've foreseen that Naruto would just fall asleep. He was still angry at him _but_ the consequences could've been fatal. Luckily, it seemed they weren't discovered. Unless somebody was planning to ambush them, in which case—, “We have to leave,” Sasuke decided for both of them, standing up and wiping his face with a sleeve. It didn't stop the nosebleed, though.

It was still night. They had to move fast but summoning a bird to carry them into safety could be risky. Too risky.

“Sure,” the blonde agreed, sent him one last worried look, and started packing their bags. “You should lean forward or the blood is going to go down your throat—“

“I've been worse,” Sasuke pointed out, and spit out saliva mixed with blood.

Something was off. The nauseating feeling he woke up with… something wasn’t right.

* * *

Sasuke coughed, trying to get used to… well, wherever he was. He wasn’t certain whether it was a residual genjutsu or just Naruto's twisted mind but he had no time to dwell on it. He had to persuade the idiot that _this_ wasn't real, that it _couldn't be real_.

He was in woods, alone. He could, however, see a flickering fire in the distance, he could feel Naruto's chakra signature. He didn't have a plan, and he wasn't certain about what he should expect. He shook his head, deciding to prepare himself for the worst. Whatever _the worst_ would turn out to be.

After a few minutes of vigorous march, he finally reached the clearing in the forest, where he could see two figures by the fire. It was them. Naruto was sleeping on the ground, covered with a blanket. Sasuke—the other Sasuke—was sitting right next to him, his back resting against a tree, his face relaxed, his hand on Naruto's side. Seeing himself like this was rather uncanny but also depressing.

He wondered if _this_ could've been real if they made other choices. If it was possible for them to be content like this, to stay together. If Naruto would've been happy not becoming a hokage, not knowing what being a hokage was like, what his life would've been without Sasuke, if he'd choose Sasuke despite thinking that his dreams and ambitions could've made him happy.

Perhaps.

Would he blame Sasuke for resigning from everything he's worked so hard to achieve? Would he be bringing it up in quarrels, claiming he would've been happier if he decided differently? Would he regret staying with Sasuke?

Probably.

He saw himself wake up, he saw himself waking Naruto up. He quietly observed the two boys, cracking a small smile when the blonde crushed his nose. They were screwed buy they looked… happy. _Naruto_ was happy. He felt almost guilty about having to shatter the illusion.

* * *

Sasuke finally realized _what_ was wrong. He could feel his own chakra signature nearby their camping site. It made no sense. Was someone trying to trick them? Was it even possible to copy someone's chakra signature and not just hide it altogether? Maybe that was the person's blood limit, however useless it seemed to be. One way or another, this wasn't good news. They've been found, someone was after them, they were in a weakened state, and Naruto couldn't form any seals.

“We have to leave _now_ ,” he whispered. “Someone’s on your three o'clock. Don't be obvious about it,” he pleaded in a hushed tone. Naruto's eyes widened. And then they widened again. He must've realized just whom that person seemed to be.

“Is this real, Sasuke?”

The question hung in the air, pregnant with fear and anxiety.

“It is,” Sasuke assured the other boy.

“It’s not,” the other Sasuke disagreed. “You have to come back,” he insisted. Sasuke frowned at the other Sasuke's words. Talking with… whoever it was, was pointless. Sasuke forced himself to focus and attacked the man, casting an Amaterasu. The man did nothing to dodge the technique, he just shook off the black flames from his hand, together with some of his chakra. “There’s no point in attacking me,” the man muttered. “I'm stronger than both of you combined, so piss off.”

“This… you're…,” the blonde whispered, a panicked look on his tanned face. The other Sasuke sent him an apologetic smile.

“It's all my fault, Naruto,” the other Sasuke sighed. “Come with me, and let's put an end to this—“

“Stay with me,” Sasuke interrupted him. He despised himself for how desperate he sounded. “He's just trying to trick you, only someone as dumb as you would fall for such an obvious trap,” he hissed. He fell to his knees in pain when black fire started consuming his shoulder and chest—

He heard Naruto growl in pain and anger, and seconds later a warm hand was touching the back of his neck, infusing him with hot chakra, which created a thick layer between Sasuke's skin and the flames. The fire's been put out but Sasuke was injured nonetheless. He choked on air, forcing himself to stand up and fight.

“Naruto, leave him be, he's not real,” the other Sasuke sighed.“He's not me,” he muttered. “None of this is real. This is you escaping from responsibility, and I've never considered you a quitter.”

Sasuke glared at the man, pinching his thigh to force himself to stand up. He had to pull himself together, they _had_ to run away, they were weakened, and at the moment they had no chance against someone this strong. “Naruto,” he panted, finally rising to his feet. “We need to get away from here,” he whispered. “We'll deal with this later,” he promised. “We’ll get to the bottom of this, trust me,” he pleaded. The other Sasuke frowned, but he kept his eyes—both working—locked with Naruto's. Naruto didn't say anything, he was just staring at the intruder. “Please,” Sasuke said in a hushed tone. He couldn't remember when was the last time he said _please_. At least it caught the blonde’s attention.

“Sasuke,” he murmured, sounding sorry.

* * *

Sakura watched over the two unconscious men, practically sick with worry. It reminded her of their chuunin exam but _this_ was so much worse. First of all, it lasted much longer than it should've.

Time was flowing differently when one was trapped in a genjutsu. Seconds became days, hours became weeks. It's been over an hour since Sasuke decided to try an invasive treatment. There wasn't even a guarantee that it would work. So far, it wasn't going so well. Naruto's brain wasn’t degenerating so fast only because she kept on healing him. She had no idea what she was going to do after her chakra reserves would deplete.

“Sakura,” a woman whispered, quietly entering the room. The room? Was the house unlocked? “I'm sorry, but you weren't opening and I knew you were here,” the woman mumbled out, sounding incredibly ashamed of herself.

“Hinata,” Sakura greeted her, turning her head to send her a weak smile. Hinata was the last person she wanted to see.

“W-what’s going on?” Hinata inquired in a shaky voice. “Why are they unconscious? You've said,” she paused, and cast her eyes downward, “you’ve said it wasn't anything serious.”

“Turns out Naruto isn't just overworked,” Sakura replied. She felt guilty. Lying to Hinata was cruel. She had every right in the world to know what was wrong with her husband. “He,” she started, looking for anything she could say that wouldn't go against Naruto and Sasuke's wishes, “I didn’t hear this from him, and it's possible that you already know it, but it seems that Naruto isn't happy with being a hokage,” she blurted out. “Maybe he needs to hear that it's okay to quit. From you,” she added.

“He’s not happy?” Hinata whimpered. “He's always wanted to be a hokage.”

“I guess sometimes our expectations are far from the reality,” Sakura whispered back. “Maybe even too far,” she sighed. Disappointment. One huge disappointment. Everything went wrong, and she had no idea _why_. They did all the right things at the right time, and yet everything blew up in their faces.

“Th-this,” Hinata stuttered. Sakura's cheeks grew red with embarrassment. Was it also true for Hinata? Was she disappointed when she realized the object of her love turned out to be too busy to spend time with her, to even _live_ with her? She had to be. “…why is Sasuke unconscious?” Hinata changed the subject. Sakura was guessing that the previous one was too shameful, too personal.

“He’s offered to help,” Sakura answered. She hoped Hinata wouldn’t ask any more questions. How could she argue that it was _the best_ for Naruto if _she_ wasn’t certain it really was? “Hinata, it's… I know that right now you and your children are the most precious people to Naruto,” Sakura said. She wasn't so certain about it. It's always been Sasuke, wasn’t it? And to Sasuke… right now it had to be Naruto. “But Sasuke and I,” she continued, “really care about him. We've always wanted what was best for him, so—“

“Sasuke was trying to kill Naruto,” Hinata disagreed in a weak voice. “On more than just one occasion.”

“He,” Sakura started, not certain about what should follow, “he cares about Naruto, trust me,” she pleaded. “I've helped you, remember? We used to be friends.”

“…okay,” Hinata agreed. She didn't look too confident about it, though. “I’ll trust you,” she promised.

* * *

Sasuke woke up, feeling nauseous, as if someone kicked him in the stomach. Hard. He gasped for air, clutching the sheets with his fingers. He could hear two worried female voices but he didn't know who it was or what was being said. As if he was drowning in mud, unable to climb up, unable to reach the surface and breathe.

Naruto actually attacked him.

Perhaps he shouldn't have set that illusion ablaze, perhaps he should've foreseen that Naruto wouldn't think twice if he believed Sasuke's life was in danger.

“Sasuke,” Sakura yelped, grabbing him by the shoulders. He had no idea _why_ until he saw a bloody stain on where his face lied just a moment ago. “Sasuke, are you alright? What's happened—“

He touched his left cheek and eye, feeling the blood that was pouring out of it. And out of his nose. “I'm fine,” he muttered.

“Naruto,” Hinata cried out. “What’s going on with him, please, tell me, I beg of you,” she pleaded, sounding as if she was about to burst into tears.

“He's fine,” Sasuke lied. “I've just ran out of chakra,” he continued. “Hinata, I know you wanted to see him but now is not the right—“

“What's going on?” Naruto asked in an alerted voice. “Why—. What are you all doing here?”

“Naruto,” Hinata whispered, kneeling next to the bed, and catching his hand with her own. Sasuke looked away. This world was the real one. In this world, Naruto was married to Hinata.

“Oh, hey Hinata, what are you doing here?” Naruto inquired with a goofy smile on his face. Big, round tears rolled down Hinata's face. “Hey, don't cry—“

“Your wife came here to see you,” Sasuke informed him. The blonde sent him a dumbfounded look. Then his eyes grew wide, both with confusion and anger.

“Knock it off,” Naruto demanded.

“Hinata, I'm sorry, you should probably leave,” Sakura whispered in an apologetic tone. “Let's go, I'll see you to the doors.”

“But,” Hinata mumbled out before she gave up, nodded her head and followed Sakura out of the room.

“I'm serious,” Naruto growled. “I know this is just some stupid genjutsu so, seriously, piss off,” he demanded.

“It's not,” Sasuke told him. “You have a family, a wife, a son, and a daughter. You married Hinata because you fell in love with her. Your son’s name is Boruto, he's on the same team as Sakura's daughter. Your daughter is younger than Boruto, her name is Himawari,” he explained. “You're the seventh hokage, there's a lot of people relying on you, so _get your shit together_.”

“And what about you?” Naruto growled. “What's your role in my life?”

“I," Sasuke paused, realizing he had no idea whom exactly he was to Naruto. A friend? A bitter regret? A reminder of what could've been? “I'm your friend,” Sasuke decided. “I'm usually away from the village, so we don't see each other very often.”

“It makes no sense,” Naruto sighed. “Why wouldn't I go with Sasuke? Why would I let him be alone _again?_ I've promised him he wouldn't be alone anymore—“

“ _I'm_ Sasuke,” he barked. He was tired of not being treated like a real person. Sakura still wasn’t coming back. He wondered whether he should be worried or thankful. “You became a hokage, there was no way for us to—“

“I've told Sasuke I would die with him,” Naruto interrupted him, apparently still thinking that talking about Sasuke in third person was the best possible idea out there. “He knew he was more important than becoming a hokage.”

“He,” Sasuke coughed, “I didn't,” he lied. “Naruto, this was for the best. Staying with me was a terrible idea.”

“It wasn’t,” Naruto insisted. Sasuke looked away, his eyes getting glossy. Sakura still wasn’t coming back. He suspected she was eavesdropping on them but she actually wasn’t. She was in the garden, with Hinata. He felt strangely thankful. “You've knocked me out, huh?” Naruto questioned. “What are you trying to get by this? This world is not even believable.”

“It's the real one, Naruto,” Sasuke whispered. “I'm the real Sasuke. I just want you to come back to your senses, so _please_. Stay with me. Don't go there again. If you're not satisfied with something, we’ll find a way to fix it, _please_. You are my one and only, you've promised me you'd find a place for me in your world, it's the only reason I'm still alive, so—“

“Don't say that,” the blonde demanded. Sasuke rested his forehead against the bed, his head lying right next to Naruto's chest. “I don't care if you're real or not, I hate seeing you like this,” he blurted out. “Come here.”

“What?” Sasuke asked in a shaky voice. Naruto sighed, and pulled him closer, forcing Sasuke to lie on the bed next to him. Well, at least his upper half. He was so warm. He's always been warm. Like a sun. “What are you—“

“Let it all out,” Naruto whispered, his hand crawling into Sasuke's hair, and gently brushing it. “I'll listen to you,” he promised. Sasuke choked on air, unable to say anything. “Shhh, it’s okay to cry—“

“I’m not crying,” Sasuke interrupted the blonde.

“But you want to,” Naruto pointed out. Sasuke slowly closed his eyes, too exhausted to get annoyed. “I think it's better to cry than to bottle everything up. If this is my subconsciousness trying to tell me something, it's easier if you were to use actual words, like, I'm not too good with metaphors and stuff—“

“I’m not a metaphor,” Sasuke growled. “This world is real, I've told you time after time, so stop with this bullshit. I get that it's easier to live in that fantasy land of yours, but we need you _here._ ”

“We? And whom do you mean by _we_?”

“Take a wild guess,” Sasuke barked. “The whole village, your family, your friends, me—“

“I guess I feel guilty about leaving Konoha behind,” the blonde hummed under his nose, apparently deep in thought. He still refused to believe that it was all real. This time, Sasuke was truly close to crying. Out of frustration. “And I most certainly miss all the people,” he sighed. “All of my friends probably think that I’ve either gone rogue or that you’ve somehow forced me to come with you. I’d feel betrayed if I was them. Is this what it’s all about?”

Sasuke just stared at him, having no idea how to respond to it. Did Naruto think that he was his conscience?

“Naruto,” he breathed in before saying more, trying to think everything through. Apparently, getting angry wasn’t working. “Which world do you prefer?”

“Ah, well, the answer is obvious, isn’t it?” Naruto chuckled. “I’m happy with my choice, it’s normal to have some doubts, though. My life turned upside down, I’m not surprised I’m not happy with how much I had to give up. But I would’ve done it again. So,” he chirped. “Is this what you wanted me to say? That I don’t regret anything?”

“No,” Sasuke muttered back.

He paused for a moment, recalling all the conversations they held during the last few days. First, Naruto came to him because he was disappointed in how his life turned out to be. He believed himself to be a total failure that made everyone unhappy. And what did Sasuke say to that? He _agreed_ with the idiot. He kept calling him a jerk, and ordering him to suck it up. He was guessing that it wasn’t the right course of action. Naruto was probably depressed, actually _depressed_. This is what Konoha did to him. He wasn’t as immune to everything bad as Sasuke thought him to be. Or did he?

He’s always known Naruto was lonely. He knew Naruto was lonely even with all those people surrounding him, calling him their friend, sacrificing themselves for him, believing in him. Naruto _needed_ Sasuke. That was the reason he kept chasing after him for all these years. That was the reason Naruto was overlooking everything that was wrong with him, how much of a hot mess he’d been at one point. He was ready to throw his life away if it meant Sasuke would feel happier.

“Naruto,” he said in a hushed voice, first making sure that Sakura and Hinata were still a safe distance away, “if you really want it, I can stay with you. Or I can take you away with me. I’ll make it work,” he stated. “I was wrong, when I told you to think about all those other people and how they’d feel,” he continued, actually believing in it. He’s been wrong. Naruto was like this not only because of that stupid genjutsu. Sasuke convinced him that there was nothing he could change about this world, that he had to live with the choices he’s made as a nineteen years old man for the rest of his life. No wonder Naruto’s chosen to live there, where he was still able to change everything. “You should think of yourself first. We’ll deal with the consequences together,” he promised. “It’ll be better for you, and for others,” he added. “So please, stay here with me.”

Naruto kept just looking at him. No words fell out of his lips. His face was abnormally blank. “Why would you say something like this?” He asked a few minutes later. “You’re supposed to disagree with me, to tell me I’m being irresponsible, that—,” he stopped his ranting to catch a panicked breath, “it doesn’t make any sense. There are all these things that don’t add up in this world, how do you expect me to believe that something this ridiculous is real, just—“

“I’ve never lied to you,” Sasuke reminded him. “I’ve always told you what I’ve believed to be true, and it’s the same now. But now there’s also one thing I know for sure, and it’s that this world, however improbable it might seem to you, is the real one. If somebody wanted to trap you in here, they would’ve made it more enticing. And you know you don’t _want_ to stay in here,” he explained, fishing for anything that might prove to Naruto that _this_ was real. That _he_ was real. “You never run away, you’ve said so yourself,” he whispered.

“I,” Naruto stuttered. Sasuke could just hope that the man was finally coming back to his senses, that he’s found something, _anything_ , that would keep him in here. “I don’t know what to think about it,” he eventually confessed, untangling his hand from Sasuke’s hair and rubbing his face with straightened fingers. “You’re saying I’m a married man with two children, a hokage, and… I can’t run away from this either.”

“I’ve never said it would be easy,” Sasuke replied in a calm voice. Actually, it would be anything but easy. “But if you want to leave it all behind, I’ll help you. If you want to solve it in another way, I’ll help you. If you want everything to stay the way it is,” Sasuke paused, “I’ll help you,” he promised. “Perhaps you just need a break to think everything through—“

“What do _you_ want?” Naruto inquired. Sasuke raised his head to look at the blonde. It didn’t really matter what _he_ wanted. He’s already given up on what he wanted.

“I want you to be happy,” he replied. At least he wasn’t lying. It wasn’t what he wanted for himself, but it was exactly what he wanted for Naruto. Whatever being happy entailed. “You came to me complaining about the council. I’ll help you get rid of it,” he suggested. It was the least extreme thing on Naruto’s list of reasons for why he was unhappy. “I think you should take a break from being a hokage, it might help you solve other problems.”

“Being a hokage means no vacations, I’m afraid,” the blonde murmured back.

“Why did you want to be a hokage?” Sasuke inquired. “Besides being acknowledged by other people, because you already have it.”

“I want to protect my friends,” Naruto replied almost immediately. “I want to change everything that hurt them, to make Konoha a better place,” he confessed.

 _And how did it work out_ was on the back of Sasuke’s tongue but he resolutely bit it. Now wasn’t the time for bickering. Naruto was still vulnerable and confused. Sasuke didn’t want him to slip away through his fingers again.

“You can do those things without being a hokage,” he said instead. He wanted to say more but he felt Sakura getting closer, and he was guessing that a conversation like this should be private. “Sakura’s coming here,” he informed the blonde in a calm way. “We can talk more later,” he suggested. Naruto nodded, slowly sitting up on the bed. Sasuke stood up, and took a place on the chair when he heard a knocking. He told Sakura to come in, and finally realized how much lighter his chest felt after having this talk, after seeing that Naruto was at least _considering_ the possibility that _this_ was his real life.

“Guys,” Sakura started, looking rather nervous. “Hinata used her byakugan when we left the room, there’s,” she stopped to catch her breath. Did she run? Or was she simply tired? “There’s,” she paused again, visibly uncertain about what to say next, “I know you didn’t want her or anyone else to know about all of,” she pointed at Naruto, “this but,” he face lit up, “I think she could help me. I mean, you know what the byakugan can do, right?”

“Are you really asking us?” Sasuke deadpanned.

“Well,” she blushed, clearly embarrassed, “she can see all the chakra pathways clearly, so it’s kind of like an x-ray,” she explained anyways, “and she sees exactly where the problem lies, so—“

“Just bring her in here then,” the brunette interrupted her.

“Right,” she chirped. She didn’t wait for Naruto to agree to the treatment even though it should’ve been his decision, and soon he heard her running downstairs. Sasuke had no idea whether he was doing the right thing by simply ignoring this little fact but if Hinata truly could help Naruto come back to his senses, then…

“Are you okay with this?” He asked anyways. Everything got so messed up because he decided to make Naruto’s decisions for him. Perhaps it was time to trust that he will do what was best for him. Because clearly Sasuke had no idea what it could be if the moron believed that having a prestigious job and a family was worse than living with Sasuke somewhere in the woods.

“What?” Naruto mumbled out. Apparently, he had no idea what was going on around him.

“Hinata’s going to help Sakura cure you,” Sasuke replied. “If everything goes well, you’ll be stuck in here,” he explained. “Are you okay with this?”

“I’m,” the blonde paused. He opened his mouth to say something but the women entered the room.

“Are you okay with this?” Sasuke repeated the question.

“I want some time,” Naruto decided, sounding sorry.

“N-naruto, but,” Hinata stuttered. Now that Sasuke finally paid some attention to her, he could see she looked like a wreck of a human being. Her hair, usually glossy and perfect, looked like a mess. Her face was even paler than usually. Her clothes looked as if she didn’t press them. Sasuke felt sorry for her but he didn’t want Naruto to agree to something he wasn’t certain of just because he felt guilty.

“He’s tired,” Sasuke told her. “He’ll rest and then make his decision.”

“But if he won’t agree,” Hinata protested in a weak voice, “it might be too late. It’s getting worse with every moment,” she added and immediately activated her byakugan. She covered her mouth with her hand. “It’s,” she paused, looking absolutely terrified, “it’s not just Naruto, Sasuke, the same thing is happening to you—“

“I’ll be fine,” Sasuke interrupted her. He knew where he was. He knew what was real. “You’ll take care of me after you’ll take care of him.”

Sakura shot him a worried look.

 “Give me a few hours,” the blonde pleaded. “I just want to talk with Sasuke, and then I’ll tell you—“

“W-with Sasuke?” Hinata repeated, visibly hurt and disappointed.

“Calm down, Hinata,” Sakura comforted her, rubbing small circles on her arm. “Everything’s going to be fine. Just give him more time.”

“I’m sorry,” Naruto apologized to her, covering his eyes with his arm.

“I need to rest anyways,” Sakura said, probably to distract the other woman from the fact that her husband preferred to talk with his friend and not with her. “It won’t be an easy procedure,” she smiled. “You should rest too, I can see that you’ve almost didn’t sleep last night. I’ll give you something for that, we’ll both take a nap, and then everything will be fine,” she promised.

“Okay,” the woman agreed. She still looked uncertain. At this point, Sasuke had no idea whether she’s been uncertain just for the last few days or her entire life. He took a deep breath, feeling that much calmer after Sakura and Hinata left the room.

“Do you want to sleep? Or talk?”

“I’ve had enough of sleep,” Naruto replied, sounding unbelievably tired and beaten. Neither of them said anything for the next fifteen minutes. Sasuke was guessing that Naruto too was checking whether the women already went to sleep. “Sasuke,” the blonde started when he decided it was safe to talk again, “you’ve seen her, I can’t leave her.”

“If you want to be with her, you don’t have to leave her,” Sasuke told him. “But if you don’t want to be with her, you shouldn’t stay just out of duty. She worries about you, it’s natural. I think she loves you but you can always stay friends with her. Even if at the beginning she won’t be okay with that, everything will work out eventually. She’s a grown, mature woman. She wouldn’t want you to stay with her if it’s not what you want.”

“It’s not that I _don’t_ love her,” Naruto protested.

“But you don’t love her _enough_ ,” Sasuke supplied. The blonde nodded and frowned, as if he was disappointed with himself.

“It’s not okay to have her help me if I’m going to divorce her immediately afterwards,” Naruto whined.

“Give yourself more time, then,” Sasuke suggested.

“Yeah, I’ll wait a week, and _then_ tell her ‘sorry, it’s not you, it’s me,’ for fuck’s sake, Sasuke, have some decency,” Naruto yelped. Sasuke smiled at him. Not because of the words but because Naruto finally stopped talking about him in third person. “And now you’re _smiling_ , gods, you’re some kind of psychopath, aren’t you? Why am I even listening to your advice, like, you’re the _last_ person I should be asking for a relationship advice,” he blabbered.

“I meant it as in give yourself more time and think this through,” Sasuke said, a faint smile still lingering on his lips. “There’s no need to make rushed decisions, especially if they’re this major. But you should let her help you today. She would’ve done it even if you told her right now that you don’t want to see her ever again. She loves you. She’ll be happier if there’s nothing wrong with you.”

“That makes me even more of a jerk,” Naruto protested. “This is just plain cruel—“

“You’d help her too, even if she told you she never wanted to see you again,” Sasuke pointed out to placate the blonde.

“Yeah but I wouldn’t be as hurt as she’s going to be,” Naruto mumbled out, rubbing his cheek.

“I’ve told you I hated you, I wanted to kill you, and yet—“

“Fine, whatever, you’re right,” the blonde interrupted him. “Generally, people aren’t dicks. I get it. But we also have two children. You’ve said it yourself, I can’t leave her alone with two kids.”

Sasuke was guessing that pointing out to Naruto that he hasn’t exactly been a doting parent till now probably wasn’t a bright idea. He sighed, trying to come up with a solution to this one. There were no easy answers. But there were more than just one way in which it could be solved. None of them was perfect but the current situation wasn’t exactly perfect either.

“You can take the kids,” he suggested. The blonde shot him a terrified look. “I’ve already done my part in raising your son, I don’t mind doing it again,” Sasuke continued before he could stop himself. Ah, of course, now he was assuming that Naruto would decide to actually come with him.

“You’ve ignored _your_ daughter all her life,” the blonde noticed. Sasuke looked away. Well, the idiot was right. But he also remembered that Sasuke had a daughter. “And I’m pretty certain that Hinata loves the kids so she wouldn’t want me to take them away from her,” Naruto added in an accusing voice. As if it was Sasuke’s fault.

“Shared custody? Or you can just pay alimonies,” he said instead. The blonde turned on his stomach and growled into the pillow. “If you have a better idea—“

“I _don’t_ ,” Naruto grunted. His words were muffled and almost unintelligible.

“For all we know, it’s possible that you’d get to see your children more often than you do now,” Sasuke mused. “Maybe your son will stop hating you.”

“Or he’ll decide that killing me is his life goal,” Naruto sighed. “I don’t want him to hate me. I know I’ve never been a good father but at least I _was_ there for him—“

“You weren’t,” Sasuke disagreed. “You just were alive, and that’s pretty much the only difference between you and your father. Although I think your father would’ve made a much better father. Granted I didn’t get to talk to him too much but he didn’t seem like a workaholic type. At least not as much as—“

“Wow, aren’t you helpful,” the blonde hissed. He turned his head, so one angry blue eye was boring right into Sasuke. “I’m blessed to have a friend like you, really—“

“I’m not going to spew comforting lies,” the brunette barked back. “I’ve never said it was going to be easy but it’s possible to make it better for you _and_ for your family. It’ll be stressful, it’ll take lots of time and dedication but it’s possible. And I know that when you set your mind on something, you get it done.”

“I guess you have a point,” the blonde admitted after few minutes.

“I _always_ have a point,” Sasuke sighed.

“You still haven’t told me what _you_ want,” Naruto reminded him. “You’ve said you were unhappy but why exactly are you unhappy?”

“It doesn’t matter right now,” Sasuke replied.

“It matters to me,” the blonde protested. Sasuke wanted Naruto to go away with him. Only this. Just this. But it was already too big of a demand. “I don’t want you to do stuff only because you feel you owe me—“

“I owe you nothing,” Sasuke interrupted the man, shaking his head. “I’ve never done anything I didn’t want to do,” he assured him.

“Sasuke, I’m not in the right condition to try and read between the lines,” Naruto complained. “Like, seriously, you say you’re going to kill me and that you’re going to live forever, and ten minutes later you beg me to kill you and to put some effort into not dying to you. And _then_ you ask me why I didn’t die, and _then_ you say _you_ want to die, like, I really can’t deal with this right now.”

“I’m not planning to die if this is what you’re wondering,” Sasuke said. He ignored the fact that the moron was just incredibly insensitive in describing one of the most dramatic moments in Sasuke’s life. He would get back at him for it later. Now was not the time. Naruto’s response was an irritated groan. “I plan to stay with you until you feel better,” he eventually confessed. It didn’t pressure Naruto into doing something he could later regret but it also remained true. If he put a period somewhere in the middle of the sentence, it would’ve spelled out exactly what he _wanted_ to do.

“And when do you think that will be?” Naruto sighed. He stared at the ceiling for the longest time, moving his lips in a weird, annoying way. As if he was trying to catch something slippery using just his mouth. Or as if he was a dying fish. Sasuke couldn’t decide. “Resigning from the hokage post will be the easiest part,” the blonde eventually said.

“Is this final?”

“Probably,” Naruto answered. Sasuke nodded. It was true that Naruto’s been frustrated with his life for quite some time already but making such a major decision wasn’t something one decided within hours. Or days. Or weeks. There was no set time for things like this. “Then I’ll have to talk to my family and think of a way to keep them as my family while, well, not being Hinata’s husband,” the blonde continued. “Unless they won’t want to see me anymore, like, I’ll have to respect that,” he sighed. “I don’t want to lose them.”

“And you most probably won’t,” Sasuke assured him. Divorces were never easy but sometimes they were the lesser of two evils. Hinata should be able to understand it. Their children, eventually, should as well. “What then?”

“Swear to gods, I don’t know,” Naruto replied. “I’ll probably have to stay here for at least some time to clean up the mess I’m about to make. What about you?”

“I’ve already told you,” Sasuke reminded him.

“Aren’t you a dear,” the blonde snorted. Sasuke leaned backward in the chair, also staring at the ceiling. “Thanks,” Naruto mumbled out. “You’re a good friend.”

“I guess,” Sasuke agreed. “Now, if you excuse me, I’ll catch up on some sleep. Sakura’s probably going to need my chakra, and I have none,” he sighed. “Wake me up if something,” he stopped himself before ending the sentence with _important happens_ , “wake me up for whatever reason. I can always sleep later.”

“Sure.”

* * *

Naruto blinked, trying to make sense out of what he was seeing. He was in a forest. Sasuke was lying on the grass, violently wheezing for air, most of his face and chest burnt. The blonde run up to him, almost grabbing him by the burnt parts but stopping himself just in time. What was going on? Just seconds ago he was… he was in that other world, talking to that other Sasuke, so why… was it him hallucinating again? Dreaming? What was this place, and _why_ did he appear in here? Was this real? And even if it wasn’t, he couldn’t afford to act as if it wasn’t, for fuck’s sake, Sasuke was pretty much _dying._

“Sasuke,” he cried, kneeling next to the man. He had no idea what he was supposed to do. He’s never had any problems with healing, Kurama was taking care of it for him. But… there was one time, when he got his skin burnt, it was when Naruto went insane as Orochimaru called Sasuke his. But then… it was Sakura, who healed him. And he’d burnt only the outer layer of his skin, this… this looked much worse. “Sasuke, can you hear me?”

The other boy didn’t acknowledge his presence in any way.

“Where’s that guy?” Naruto asked, trying to come up with _anything_ he could do. He searched the woods for any sign of hostile presence but there was nothing. “Sasuke, what’s happened, why—“

Suddenly, Sasuke stopped moving altogether.

Naruto touched the other boy’s hand, searching for pulse, because Sasuke must’ve just lost consciousness from all that pain, so everything would turn out okay as long, as he’d take Sasuke to some village, where they’d find a healer, so all they needed was just a—

There was no pulse.

A panicked sob escaped Naruto’s lips.

It was all his fault. He practically killed Sasuke. He should’ve kept watch. He should’ve listened to Sasuke when he told him they needed to run. He should’ve… it wouldn’t have happened if Naruto wasn’t there. That man wasn’t looking for Sasuke, he was looking for Naruto, for him Sasuke was just collateral damage.

He touched his forehead with Sasuke’s, wishing that man killed him too.

“Sasuke, stay with me,” he cried, even though he knew it was in vain. “Please, stay with me, don’t die—“

“I’m not planning to,” a voice rasped right into his ear. Naruto raised his head to see that Sasuke was once again moving, and breathing, and there was nothing wrong with him, that his skin looked as if it never got burnt—

“You’re blind,” the blonde realized.

“Yeah, rub it in, why won’t you,” Sasuke sighed. His hand landed in Naruto’s hair and ruffled it. “I wish I was blind in that genjutsu,” he continued as if he didn’t just come back to life, “that haircut of yours was a disaster,” he smiled. “You’ve cost me two eyes and a limb,” he complained.

“Sorry,” Naruto sobbed. He still felt as if Sasuke could die any moment, as if he wasn’t really alive, as if he was alive just for now but his life still was in grave danger. “What happened to that guy?”

“He hit you with genjutsu and disappeared,” Sasuke informed him. “I’ve barely managed to free you.”

“Thank you,” the blonde whispered, finally raising himself and helping Sasuke stand up. The boy looked rather disoriented. “What if he comes back?”

“I need new eyes,” he replied. “I’m also going to need someone, who’ll transplant them for me,” he sighed. Naruto looked away. Sasuke’s just told him his eyes used to belong to Itachi, and that he wanted to keep them. And now…

“Sorry,” he said.

“Stop apologizing,” the boy snapped.

“Sasuke,” Naruto started, hating himself for feeling that he needed to ask the question. “Is this real?”

* * *

Sasuke woke up when someone touched his shoulder. This someone turned out to be Sakura. He got up from the bed, casting one look at Naruto, who’s been lying right beside him, sleeping again. Hinata was standing in the doorway, blushing and fiddling with her fingers. At least she looked as if she had _some_ sleep.

“How long were we sleeping?”

“About five hours,” Sakura answered his question. “Did he tell you if he wanted us to…”

“He’s said yes,” Sasuke assured her. “How is he?”

Hinata activated her byakugan. She studied Naruto for some time, and then she turned her eyes on Sasuke. “It doesn’t look good,” she whispered. “Neither of you looks good.”

“I’m fine,” he sighed. He really was. His eyes were still hurting but that wasn’t too worrying. He kneeled next to the bed, and shook Naruto awake. The man yelped in fear when he opened his eyes.

“Sasuke, what’s—“

“I’m here,” he said. “Before you went to sleep, we were talking about the treatment, remember?”

“…why do you have to ask him if he remembers?” Hinata whimpered. “Naruto, what’s going on?”

Naruto looked as if he had no idea what they were talking about. Sasuke cursed under his breath. He shouldn’t have gone to sleep. He should’ve kept Naruto awake, grounded in the real world. “You were just dreaming,” he told the blonde. “Remember what we were talking about before you went to sleep?”

“Sometimes he’s confused after he wakes up,” Sakura explained to Hinata. “Don’t worry, it’ll pass.”

“I,” Naruto paused, took a deep breath, and shook his head. “I do.”

Sasuke frowned with pain. His eyes were hurting him more and more with every passing second.

“Can we start then?” Sakura inquired. “If you want to have a drink, eat something or use the toilet, now’s the time because we shouldn’t be interrupting the procedure—“

“I’m good to go,” the blonde interrupted her. Sasuke watched Sakura prepare herself, Naruto and Hinata. He himself was merely a chakra bank in case any of the women needed it. He took his seat by the desk, observing them.

“It’s not going to hurt,” Sakura informed Naruto in a calm voice. “If you feel _any_ pain, you have to immediately tell us, alright?”

“Sure,” the blonde agreed. He still seemed out of it.

Sakura nodded, and gestured Hinata to activate the byakugan. Sakura was using her techniques while Hinata kept guiding her hands. They were exchanging data non-stop. Turns out Hyuugas would’ve made exquisite medics. Sasuke’s never seen a Hyuuga working in a hospital. Apparently being a medic wasn’t a very prestigious profession.

 “You two should work in the hospital,” he said against his better judgment. He knew he shouldn’t be distracting them, and he knew that Sakura must’ve believed that if she left her daughter alone for even a few hours, she would’ve turned into Sasuke or worse. “How is it going?”

“It’s getting better,” Hinata replied.

Were members of the main family even allowed to _work_? Was Hinata still considered a part of the main family? Did Sasuke really care?

He didn’t say a word for the next few hours until Sakura gestured him to give her his chakra.

“How much longer is it going to take?”

“I think we’re almost done,” Sakura whispered back. He touched her shoulder, slowly supplying her with his chakra. He should learn some medical techniques himself. From what he’s seen so far, they weren’t too demanding but he lacked a hell lot of anatomical knowledge. “We’ll have to take care of you later, how are you—“

“There’s nothing wrong with me,” he interrupted her. And there _was_ nothing wrong with him, aside from the pain in his eyes, which wasn’t subsiding even when he kept them closed. At this point he was sporting a massive headache and there was almost nothing he would’ve welcomed more than a hot shower and a full night of sleep. “Naruto, how are you holding out?”

The man had kept quiet throughout the procedure.

“I’m fine,” the blonde murmured back. “I guess,” he added. Sasuke sighed. He hated hearing that Naruto was _fine_. He knew what _he_ meant when he was saying he was fine. It pretty much translated to _don’t worry about me._ And it didn’t necessarily mean that everything was indeed fine.

“If you say so,” he replied. He was hoping that the reason why Naruto wasn’t really saying anything was that he felt guilty about what he was about to do, and that there wasn’t anything worse, anything that Sasuke wasn’t aware of.

“But you’re _not_ fine,” Naruto stated in a tired voice. “I can feel it, what’s wrong?”

“It’s just my eyes,” Sasuke answered. Hinata turned her head to study him.

“Eyes?” Naruto repeated, sounding terrified. “What’s wrong with them?”

“They hurt, but it’ll pass,” Sasuke said. He had no idea why it mattered. “Stop talking, you’re distracting everybody.”

Hinata’s eyes focused on Naruto again. She looked distressed. Sasuke chose to ignore it. Whatever was happening to him, it definitely wasn’t as pressing of a matter as Naruto’s health.

“You’ve just gone blind in there,” the blonde whispered. “Isn’t it too much of a coincidence if—“

“I’m not going blind,” Sasuke assured him. “Sometimes, my eyes just hurt,” he said. It hasn’t happened ever since he had Itachi’s eyes transplanted but pondering over why they hurt _now_ wasn’t too important. None of the women addressed what Naruto’s just said about _there_. Sakura probably already explained everything to Hinata. She must have done so if Hinata saw the mess Naruto’s brain probably was.

“Can’t we just stop for now, and then—“

“We’d have to start from pretty much the beginning,” Sakura told Naruto in an apologetic voice. “I’ve told you the brain doesn’t regenerate, we’re just stopping it from getting _worse_ ,” she explained. “We are, obviously, fixing as much as we can, but if we stop now, there’ll be _less_ of what we can fix.”

“Trust me,” Sasuke pleaded. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

Naruto sent him a long, obviously worried look.

“I will,” he eventually replied, sounding as if he was already regretting it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :Y
> 
> in other news  
> i can't write Hinata for shit


	4. , don't leave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sorry it took so long, a friend was staying with me, and I didn't have time to fix all those double spaces, no spaces and other random mistakes
> 
> but here it is
> 
> as always, comments are appreciated

„I think that's it,” Hinata whispered in a meek voice. She looked exhausted. Her face was covered in a thin veil of sweat, and Naruto could swear it was the first time when it was obvious that she was over thirty years old.

„Finally,” Sakura sighed, removing her hands from Naruto's temples, and leaning back on a chair. She too had to be tired. „How's Sasuke?”

Hinata gave the man a long look.

„I'm fine,” Sasuke muttered. Naruto mentally rolled his eyes. He could feel that Sasuke _wasn't_ fine.

„Bullshit,” he grunted. „Hinata, how—„

He stopped himself mid-sentence, sitting up on the bed. Hinata was his wife. She was the mother of their children. He hadn’t even asked about who was taking care of Himawari when she was here. „How’s Himawari?”

„Oh, she's,” Hinata paused, giving him a sincere smile, „Hanabi's taking care of her. She's worried about you too.”

„Sorry,” Naruto mumbled out. He had no idea whether he was apologizing for making others worry, for forgetting to ask about his family or for wanting to leave them.

„N-no, no, it's not your fault,” his wife assured him in that soft voice of hers. If he was her Sasuke, then... Naruto knew how _he_ felt without Sasuke. „Why... why were you like this? I know it's not just stress,” she mumbled out. „If it was just stress, then Sasuke wouldn't be like this--"

„I put him under genjutsu,” Sasuke confessed. „Are you able to use techniques? I need to go back—„

„Oi, you're not going anywhere until Sakura fixes you,”Naruto protested.

„It’s,” Hinata stuttered, „It's too late,” she finally said. „We won't be able to fix your eyes—„

„WHAT—„

„Calm down, Naruto,” Sasuke interrupted him.

„What do you mean we can't?” Sakura cried out. „You’ve said—„

Sakura looked away, her face unreadable. Hinata too wasn’t able to look her in the eyes.

„I'll just have something transplanted,” Sasuke hissed. „It's not a big deal.”

„What about your sharingan?” Naruto protested. „There’s none, that,” he growled. He shouldn’t had asked Tsunade to make sure the eyes of the clones rot. It was stupid, it was _so_ stupid and irresponsible. Sasuke _needed_ his eyes, all of his techniques were based on sharingan. „Why haven't you said anything earlier?”

He wasn't certain whom he was asking. Hinata _knew_ there was something wrong, she _knew_ that it would be too late if they kept on fixing Naruto, so—

And Sasuke had to feel that something was wrong, _why_ hasn’t he said anything?!

„Your eyes aren't the problem,” Hinata whispered. „The problem is the connection between your eyes and the brain. The chakra pathways have already disappeared. Your nerves are deteriorating. It's impossible to fix.”

„Why haven't you said anything earlier?!” Naruto demanded to know. He's never yelled at Hinata. He's never even had a fight with her. He glared at her as her eyes filled with tears. Sasuke’s were blank. „You should've said something, it's your fault that he's—„

„Shut up, Naruto,” Sakura finally spoke up. Her lips were trembling. „I'll take care of you, Sasuke. So don't leave,” she pleaded.

„There has to be something you can do to reverse it,” Naruto snapped.

„There's not,” Sakura informed him in broken voice. „It's too late.”

Naruto stood up, and paced around the room. He wasn't just angry, he was furious. „Why haven’t you said anything?!”

„I'm s-sorry,” Hinata cried. „You were getting worse with every second, if we stopped to cure him, you might've,” she sobbed, „the damage could be inoperable, so... It's just _eyes_ —„

„It's not _just eyes_ ,” Naruto yelled.

„It is,” Sasuke disagreed. He sounded dead.

„Sakura’s not the only medic in here, if you've said _something_ , this wouldn't have happened,” Naruto shouted.

„And who do you think would want to cure him?” Sakura barked. „They would need a Hyuuga to help them, nobody—„

„I'm the _hokage_ ,” Naruto interrupted her.

„Even if you ordered them to do it, they would’ve made sure it didn't work,” Sasuke rasped. „Nobody would pass up an opportunity to—„

„Then _you_ should've taken care of Sasuke and sent me to the hospital instead,” Naruto uttered.

„What we've done was extremely complex,” Sakura said. „Only Tsunade could've done it, and she's not here.”

Naruto glared at her. He was sick and tired of Konoha and its inner workings. He approached Sasuke, grabbed his shoulder, and teleported them out.

* * *

„What did you bring me here for?” Sasuke muttered. Naruto teleported them to the Valley of the End. Sasuke had no idea why the blonde even marked the place. It was just a giant crater and some rubble overgrown with ugly, yellowish grass. Naruto didn't reply him, he just slumped on the ground, and lied there. „I guess it means you're fully healed,” Sasuke sighed, and sat down next to him. His vision was already getting blurry. He wondered how much time he had left before he lost his eyesight.

He wasn't even able to activate his sharingan.

„ _You’ve cost me two eyes and a limb_ ,” Naruto mumbled out. Sasuke sent him a questioning look. „It's what you've said. In there.”

„We should go back. If something happens in Konoha—„

„Others will take care of it,” the blonde sighed. „It's their village too. Itachi's said I can't do everything on my own.”

Sasuke shook his head. Naruto wasn't being himself. He yelled at his wife and Sakura. He pretty much ran away, leaving his beloved Konoha behind, defenseless. He had to know that there wasn’t anyone, who could match him. Except for Sasuke. But that was no longer truth. And soon it was going to get worse.

„So now you're quoting Itachi,” Sasuke said. He had no idea what he was going to do after turning blind. Given enough time, he would probably be able to become a shadow of his former self when it came to strength. But before that? He would be barely above an Academy graduate. A blind Academy graduate.

Everything was slowly being taken away from him. He's lost his parents, his brother, his clan, his drive, his purpose, his pride. He's lost Naruto. And now he was going to lose his eyesight and strength.

„I'm sorry,” Naruto whispered. „I shouldn't have come to you back then.”

„It’s my fault,” Sasuke noted.

„It's not,” Naruto disagreed. „I've told you I wanted to shoulder your anger and pain, and that you were more important than becoming a hokage, but in the end I left you alone. And I wouldn't have done anything about it if I wasn’t so fucking disappointed with _my_ life choices,” he grunted. „Get angry at me. You should be angry.”

„I'm not,” Sasuke sighed.

„You should be angry at me, at Hinata, at Konoha,” the blonde started enumerating. „I _am_ angry.”

„Hinata did nothing wrong. Even if you weren't her husband, saving the hokage is more important than saving a former missing nin,” Sasuke pointed out. „It was a smart choice.”

„Stop with this bullshit,” Naruto whined. Sasuke shrug his shoulders. There was nothing more to be said.

„Why this place?” He asked instead.

„It’s the first thing that came to my mind,” Naruto answered.

„Why? Because now we definitely won't fight again?”

„...perhaps,” the blonde admitted. „We've never had that fight I promised you.”

„There was no need for one,” Sasuke replied, lying next to Naruto. The sky had a nice blue hue. „I've lost, remember?”

„You didn't,” Naruto disagreed. „It was a tie.”

„Now I feel better about myself,” Sasuke snorted. „I've won the first one, though. The ones that came in between were ties as well, so... I guess my general score is higher. Not that I'm counting.”Naruto turned his head to look at him. He wasn't smiling. He wasn't getting provoked. He looked tired and beaten.„I intend to keep it that way,” Sasuke continued, letting out a heavy breath. „I could give you my eyes,” he offered after a longer while of unpleasant silence. „I won't be needing them anymore.”

He frowned, when Naruto’s hand landed on his face in a half-assed swat. It stayed there, obstructing Sasuke’s view of the sky. Then it covered Sasuke's eyes completely. He closed them, annoyed at how Naruto's fingers irritated his eyelashes.

„Someone else might try to take them by force. It's better if you have them,” Sasuke pointed out. „Don't let them go to waste.”

„You're not a warehouse for spare body parts,” the blonde hissed. „They're yours, and they will stay yours,” he declared. „I'll make sure of it.”

„My hero,” Sasuke sneered. „Are you going to follow my every step?”

„If this is what it takes,” Naruto blurted out. „What... what are you going to do? Sakura's said she will take care of you—„

„I don't want her to,” Sasuke interrupted him. „You might as well leave me in that hideout before heading back to Konoha,” he sighed. „I'll manage. I don’t need anyone to _take care_ of me.”

„I'm not questioning your ability to look after yourself,” Naruto replied. „But you've said you'd stay with me—„

„The circumstances have changed, don't you think?” Sasuke inquired. „We were supposed to throw down the council but I'm about to become fucking useless.”

„You're not,” Naruto disagreed. „And even if you were,” his voice collapsed, betraying his anxiety, „it doesn't change anything,” he stated.

„Am I supposed to be touched or something?” Sasuke asked. He was tired. Tired of everything. He didn't want to talk, he didn't want to go back to Konoha, he wanted to hide somewhere, all alone, and sort everything on his own. „I'm serious, piss off and leave me alone.”

„I won't,” Naruto retorted. „I'm done with leaving you alone,” he muttered.

„If you think I'm going to follow you like a lost puppy, you're up for a disappointment—„

„What gave you that idea?” Naruto interrupted him. „Do you seriously believe I'm going to think less of you just because you're going to be blind?” He snapped. Sasuke didn't bother with replying. It was absolutely pointless. „What about Orochimaru?” Naruto asked, suddenly jerking up and removing his hand from Sasuke's eyes.

„What about him?”

„He couldn't use his arms for a while because of what the Third did to him but then he changed bodies, so—“

„You do realize the host has to be alive?” Sasuke sighed. Naruto groaned in reply. „The technique also doesn't last too long, I'd have to find myself a new body after a few years,” Sasuke continued. „What's more, even if I transplanted my eyes into a new body, they wouldn't work as well as they did before. Why do you think Orochimaru went through all that trouble if he could've just snatched a pair of eyes?”

„Right,” Naruto mumbled out. „We'll think of something.”

„There’s no need,” Sasuke grumbled. „Forget it.”

„You know I couldn't,” the blonde whispered.He stared at Sasuke, guilt written all over his face. „We’re heading back to Konoha,” he decided. „Sakura still needs to check if there's nothing more wrong with you. Then I'll teleport you to wherever you want. I'll,” he paused, „I'll deal with everything and come back to you. I promise.”

* * *

Sasuke opened his eyes to see _nothing_. Everything was black, and he felt as if he was drowning, falling thousands of miles down into the abyss. It was too fast. He was certain he'd have at least a few more days before he'd be forced to close his eyes forever.

He was walking. He could feel and hear the grass under his feet. He recognized Naruto’s presence, he felt a bony, warm hand resting on his shoulder. Naruto was supposed to take them back to Konoha, so why—

„Where are we?” Sasuke demanded to know. He pondered whether informing Naruto that he's already lost his eyesight was a good idea. Probably not. It would just keep the moron away from what he was supposed to be doing.

„I'm not entirely sure,” Naruto admitted. „But we’re moving in the right direction, so it should be alright.”

„Isn't your office marked? What's the point of teleporting this far away from Konoha?” Sasuke hissed. He was getting annoyed. He didn't feel like having a walk, he wanted to get away from all of _this_ , at least for a while. He didn't want anybody to see him in his weakened state. He didn't want anyone to try to _help_ him. He wanted none of that. He needed to take care of it on his own. He needed to get better, to become independent again before... before letting anyone see him again.

„What are you talking about?” Naruto asked, sounding confused. „We’re trying to get _away_ from Konoha, remember?”

„What?”

„Uh, Sasuke, seriously, why are you surprised? You need to take a rest or something? Because I think I saw a good spot for that just a while ago, so we could turn back—“

Naruto paused when Sasuke’s hand invaded his hair. They were much longer than he remembered them to be. Unless...

„Shit,” he cursed. It was that stupid genjutsu again. Or whatever it was. How was he supposed to go back to the real world? He didn't have his eyes, so he'd have to rely on someone else to break the illusion for him. Naruto's said he was taking Sasuke to Sakura. She should be able to notice that something was wrong. According to Kakashi, she had a talent for genjutsu. Not that it's ever helped her. Or showed. Sasuke heaved a heavy sigh. „You know it's not real, right?” He muttered. It was just a waste of time. A huge waste of time.

„What?” Naruto stuttered. „Ye, I think you need a rest. Let's go,” he blabbered, grabbing Sasuke’s hand, and hauling him... wherever. Sasuke let the blonde drag him. It didn't matter what they did in here. For all he cared, they could throw themselves off a cliff. He almost tripped when Naruto suddenly stopped. „Ah, sorry,” the blonde blurted out. „Like, I'm still not good at, uh, _this_ ,” he continued as if he _had_ to explain why he sucked at leading a blind person. „So, er, you can just sit down here, and I’ll be back with you in a moment, I just have to,” he paused, „right, actually, do _you_ have to pee?”

„What?” Sasuke barked at him.

„I could help you,” the moron offered, sounding disgustingly embarrassed.

„I don't need your help,” Sasuke hissed.

„Oi, you don't have to get all defensive on me, like, it's not a big deal if you want me to lead you to a, uh, proper place or something, I mean, I _know_ you can hold your,” he stuttered, „your dick on your own, so it's not even this weird, like, there's no shame in this--"

„Just shut up and go,” Sasuke sighed. „I'll tell you if I ever need you to lead me to a _proper place_ , and aim my dick for me.”

He heard Naruto make an unintelligible noise. Then there were steps. Loud steps. Very not ninja-like steps. Sasuke had no idea whether the moron was just absurdly bad at stealth or trying to be considerate but it annoyed him all the same. He got even more irritated when he realized that right now his world consisted of darkness and the sound of Naruto pissing.

„As if I couldn't reach a tree on my own,” he grunted under his breath. Naruto was being ridiculous. Sasuke was half-expecting the idiot to try to spoon-feed him next. This Naruto wasn’t even real. There was no reason for him to be this dumb. A sound of zipper and nearing steps. „Finally,” Sasuke complained. „Maybe next time _I_ should lead _you_ to a proper place.”

„ _Haha_ , fuck you,” the blonde grumbled. „Are you hungry or, or thirsty, or, like, is there anything I can do for you?”

„Yeah, get lost,” Sasuke growled. Naruto plopped on the ground next to him. He heard him spill some water on the ground, he heard it sloshing through his fingers. He could smell Naruto’s sweat, and the cold ground around them. After all, it was winter. It was good that the temperature never fell below zero degrees.

„You know it's not going to last forever, right? We’ll find you some eyes soon,” the blonde whispered.

„I don't care about this world,” Sasuke replied. „This is not real, you're not real... I don't care about being blind in here,” he added. Naruto’s hand squeezed his. Sasuke flinched when he felt something hard and warm rest against his forehead.

„I'm real,” the blonde insisted. His breath moved Sasuke’s hair, tickling his skin. „So stop saying that. We'll find you some eyes. Hell, if you want... I'm certain we could find Madara's eyes in Konoha. But first we need to find a safe place, find you _any_ eyes, and get back in shape. So try to hold on. It's really not going to last forever.”

„...what if it is?”

Sasuke had no idea _why_ he felt the need to ask the question. This wasn’t the real Naruto. This was... it was less than a clone. A figment of his imagination. So wasn't he actually asking himself? What was the point?

Naruto’s head rested on his shoulder.

„Sasuke, I know you,” he whispered. „You'll manage. You'll adapt, and before you know it, you'll be just as good if not better than you've been,” he insisted. „You’ll find a way around that. I know that right now I’m, well, acting kind of worried but it's just because it's new to you, and you're probably all disoriented and lost. But I know that you're strong, and, like, you won't need me or anyone else to, uh, look after you,” he said. „So let yourself be lost for now. I'm here for you. You're not alone.”

Sasuke breathed in. This was exactly what he wanted to hear. This was the last thing he wanted to hear.

Because none of it was real.

* * *

„Sasuke,” Sakura cried out, clinging to her husband’s chest. „You're awake, you’re finally awake,” she sobbed.

Naruto watched the scene from a distance, feeling as if he didn't belong in there. Hinata's eyes were red and puffy from crying. Sakura was crying. Naruto was close to tears himself. He shouldn't have taken Sasuke away to the Valley. It was his fault that he didn’t receive help on time.

„Sakura, you’re heavy,” Sasuke complained in a calm voice.

„How are your eyes?” she whimpered, sitting up, and letting go of him.

„I can still see,” the man informed her. „But it's worse than it was.”

Sasuke’s words stabbed Naruto’s heart as if they were daggers. Old, rusty daggers. Ones that wouldn't leave a clear wound. The worst part was that Naruto _knew_ Sasuke wasn’t blaming him.

„How’s his brain?” he asked. Hinata took a deep breath before replying.

„It’s fine. I m-mean, it's going to be fine. It's not as bad as it was with you, so,” she stuttered, „Sasuke’s going to be fine.”

„Except for the fact that he's going to lose his eyesight,” he said before he could stop himself.

„I'll manage,” Sasuke rasped. „I'll adapt. Give me a year, and we might make another crater. For the old times sake. It’s been a while since we've last yelled each other's names for no reason whatsoever.”

„Don’t be ridiculous,” Naruto barked.

„Naruto,” Sasuke started with a heavy sigh, „either shut up or leave. It’s not Hinata’s fault. It’s not Sakura’s fault. It’s not your fault. You’re just making everyone feel guilty over something they shouldn't feel guilty about. It's not helping.”

Naruto withstood the other man’s glare. Everything was crumbling to pieces. He sat down on the chair Sasuke used to sit on. Their situation reversed completely. But Naruto came out of the whole ordeal with only some minor brain damage. Sasuke was going blind. He’d lost way too much because of Konoha, because of Naruto. And he was silently agreeing to it, saying what others wanted him to say. He’d even apologized all these years ago. It was a half-assed apology but… still, he apologized for things he shouldn’t have to apologize for. Konoha _never_ apologized to him.

Nobody even knew that the Uchiha massacre was directly caused by Konoha. Kakashi decided it was too late to make a difference, and the news would just upset people. Sasuke agreed.

The council forced him to reproduce. Naruto supported the idea, believing it would anchor Sasuke in Konoha.

Sasuke agreed.

Naruto asked him for help.

Sasuke agreed. He’s said he was willing to take another blow for Naruto. To once again be the bad guy, so Naruto could emerge as a hero.

At this point Sasuke was just a husk of his former self. He’d probably agree to anything if he thought it would be beneficial for someone. For _anyone_ . Anyone but him.

“You need to be more selfish,” Naruto mumbled out. He’s never thought he would say this to Sasuke, out of all people.

“What for?” Sasuke asked.

Yes, indeed. What for? What for. What for.

“I agree with Naruto,” Sakura carefully chimed in. “You’ve done enough. You’ve repaid for all that you’ve done—“

“Sasuke’s done nothing wrong,” Naruto interrupted her.

“I’m pretty sure I did some bad things,” the brunette sighed. Naruto felt as if he was talking to a man, who was thousand years older than him, who was tired of his shit, who just hoped to die in as little pain as possible.

“N-Naruto, you know Sasuke’s right,” Hinata whispered.

“Grow up, Naruto,” Sakura said. “You’re too old to be this infatuated. You’ve already done your part saving Sasuke. I can take care of him.”

Has nobody noticed just how _broken_ Sasuke was? Have they all really thought that Naruto’d succeeded? He wanted to scream but he was pretty certain Sasuke would eventually throw him out of the room. Besides, talking to him while Sakura and Hinata were present, was pointless. He wasn't himself around them. Naruto breathed out, forcing himself to calm down, at least for the time being.

“I’m not staying here,” Sasuke informed Sakura, his voice absolutely devoid of emotion.

“You can’t be serious,” the woman exclaimed. “You’ll be _blind_ , you need someone to look after you. I’m your wife, I love you, you know that I _can_ make you happy! Do you really want me to wonder if you’re still alive, if—“

“Naruto will know when I die,” he interrupted her. “So you won’t have to wonder about anything.”

“That’s _not_  the point!” Sakura shouted. “I just want you to be happy, why don’t you want to be happy?!”

Hinata’s face was the reddest thing Naruto’s ever seen. No wonder. It was the first time she saw Sakura and Sasuke interact with each other. After all these years, Naruto got used to it. He got used to Sakura trying to convince Sasuke to stay, and to Sasuke telling her it wasn’t going to happen.

“You were supposed to heal me,” Sasuke reminded her in icy tone. Sakura’s hands were trembling. She looked as if she was about to have a mental breakdown.

“L-let’s leave them alone for a while,” Hinata mumbled out, deactivating her byakugan, and walking up to Naruto. She reached for his hand. He took it, and lead her out of the room, out of Sakura’s house, and into the small garden. Honestly, it was just a lawn, but it was well-kept. Naruto was somewhat amazed at how clean and neat Sakura’s house was. It was the same for theirs. Both Hinata and Sakura had to spend hours working on it.

“Is this a good idea to take a break right now?” He asked. “You didn’t want to take a break when it was me—“

“Sakura’s too upset right now,” Hinata replied in a meek voice. As if she was afraid he’d hit her. As if she had a battered wife syndrome. Naruto had no idea why. Until today he’s never even raised his voice at her. He’s never told her anything mean. All he did was saying how grateful he was for everything she’s done for him.

“Do you _like_ being with me?”

He himself was surprised at the words that fell out of his mouth.

“W-why? Why do you ask?” Hinata whimpered. “I know you’re upset that I haven’t said anything about Sasuke, and I’m _sorry_ but—“

“It’s got nothing to do with Sasuke,” he said to calm her down. It didn’t work. He had no idea that it was possible but she became even more terrified. “Relax,” he pleaded. He raised his hands to grab her shoulders but stopped himself. He wasn’t certain _why_ he stopped himself. “It was just a question,” he assured her. “Because, like, Sakura’s not happy,” he lied. “So I was wondering if you are.”

“I’m very happy,” she replied without a second of hesitation. Naruto slowly nodded. She didn’t look happy. The last time she looked happy was when Boruto was born. Because after that he became a hokage, so it took priority over his family life. He wasn’t there when Himawari was born. He wasn’t certain he actually was there for the conception. Immediately after becoming a hokage, he was missing his family, eating meals with them, and generally _living_ with them. A year or so later family became nothing more than a responsibility. He was sending clones to his house, so they would take care of it for him. After a while he stopped caring about all the memories he would receive after a clone would disappear.

“I wasn’t a good husband. Or a father,” he noted.

“You’re busy being a hokage,” she smiled. “We’re all very proud of you. You’ve said it yourself, to you all the villagers are like your children—“

“Is _this_ what you imagined when you were picturing your future with me? When you were marrying me?”

“W-well, n-no, but I understand why it has to be like this,” she replied. “Sakura told me you were considering to quit but you really don’t have to worry about us.”

“That’s not the reason I want to quit,” he said, carefully weighing his words. He was guessing Sasuke told Sakura. And then Sakura told Hinata. It didn’t really matter. “I want to quit because everything’s just as it was when the Third was in charge. Or Tsunade. Or Kakashi. I wanted a change, I’ve promised a change. But there’s nothing I can do to bring it,” he confessed.

“You’re being too hard on yourself,” Hinata whispered. “Konoha is blooming, look how much bigger and richer it became. The children are no longer in danger. Ninjas are slowly becoming an obsolete profession. It won’t be long until we’ll have a true peace. It what you’ve wanted.”

“I wanted justice,” he disagreed. “Hyuugas are just what they used to be. You have a _slave branch_ in your family, it’s got nothing to do with peace,” he continued.

“I’m not a Hyuuga anymore,” she stated, straightening her back. “I wish they changed, for Neji, but—“

“He died protecting you,” Naruto pointed out. “I’m not saying anything should’ve happened to you, of course,” he blabbered, frantically waving his hands in front of his face, “but it’s rather symbolic, like, you know, he wanted to be _free_ —“

“Do you think I _don’t_ feel guilty about his death?” she exclaimed. “There’s not a day when I _don’t_ wonder if he did it because of the mark or if he actually,” she stopped, her eyes getting teary, “if he just wanted to save _me_. And he was not a _symbol_ , he sacrificed himself for _you_ , so,” she sobbed, “please, don’t make him into a _symbol_. He was your friend. He believed in you. We _all_ believed in you. He did that, so you could still fight. Because he knew you were the _only one_ , who could do anything against—“

“Shhh,” he whispered, his hand rubbing her shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he apologized. He shouldn’t have mentioned Neji. He _knew_ it was a sensitive topic. It was one of very few topics about which Hinata was passionate. “But I’ve promised him I’d change Hyuugas, and I didn’t,” he murmured. “That’s why I’m disappointed with myself.”

“Hyuugas were like this since the beginning. It’ll take more than just a couple of years to change it,” she insisted.

“So what, I’m supposed to sit back and be happy with myself because almost everyone can afford a cellphone?” Naruto snapped.

“No,” she replied. “But you have to understand that some things are easier to change than others.”

He let go of her shoulder, and paced in a circle. Talking to Hinata just made him more confused. There were some things she didn’t know about, things he couldn’t tell her about. The way the council worked against him, torpedoing his every initiative. The fact that Konoha got bigger and richer not because of what he’s done but thanks to Shikamaru _and_ the council. The fact that the Root still existed. That Konoha still had agents hidden among the population of allied villages. That the peace they worked so hard towards was just as frail as when people were forced to unite because of Madara. The Uchihas. All the reasons why it was so _easy_ to excuse Sasuke’s actions.

“I'm all burnt out,” he confessed. “Hinata, for all these years I've been nothing but a poster boy,” he continued. “All I do is signing papers I don't want to sign. If… when the other hidden villages attack, we’ll be defenseless. Honestly, all we have is _our_ generation, and almost none of us has been training for the last ten years. _I_ almost wasn't training. Sasuke probably was but now there’s no Sasuke. We're pretty much screwed,” he sighed. “The strongest ninjas are loyal to the council. If they were to do anything, there would be nothing that could possibly stop them. Aside from me, and maybe a couple of others but I can't expect them to put their lives on line _again_. Especially since everyone seems content with how everything’s unfolding—“

“Naruto, you're worrying too much,” she interrupted him. “Why would anyone attack Konoha? Why would the council start an uprising? There's no reason to.”

“Why do countries attack other countries? Why would politicians overthrow a leader? Money and power,” he suggested. “And it would be easy money, and easy power. Konoha is weak. We're an economic power but that's it. My position is weak. There’s nothing I can do as a hokage. Look, I've been away for the last few days, and yet _nobody_ was trying to reach me. I’m nothing but a hand holding a pen,” he explained.

“Then,” she stumbled upon the word, “then what do you want to do?”

She looked worried and sad, but not disappointed with him. Naruto sent her a weak smile. He was supposed to break her heart, shatter it into smithereens.

“I want to quit,” he confessed. She looked away, biting her bottom lip. “I'm sorry, Hinata, it's the only way—“

“It’s not,” she disagreed. “What then?”

He shook his head. He didn't want to say it. She was his friend. She loved him. She's supported him through all these years, never complaining about him not being there for his family.

“Shikamaru'sprobably going to take my place for the time being since he's my advisor,” he said instead. “But he'll probably be named the hokage anyways. There's not much competition,” he sighed.

“I was asking about your plans,” she clarified. She didn't really have to. Naruto knew what she was asking about. He just wasn't ready to have this conversation with her. He needed to think things through. He needed to find the right words.

“We should check up on them,” he suggested. “Maybe they've stopped fighting.”

Hinata nodded before she hung her head low, and followed him into the house. He hated himself. He knew how much he meant to her. Now he was going to take it all away from her because he was stupid when he was nineteen years old. Because he couldn't man up and take responsibility for his decisions. Because he was lying when he promised her to stay with her _till death do them part_.

Naruto walked upstairs, and stopped when he heard amuffled crying coming from Sakura’s bedroom. He closed his eyes, realizing that even _this_ was his fault. He was nothing but a failure.

“I'll try to talk to her,” Hinata quietly offered. He nodded with gratitude, and headed towards Sarada's bedroom.

* * *

“I want to leave,” Sasuke muttered the moment Naruto opened the doors. The brunette was standing by the window, glaring at the sky.

“Soon,” Naruto promised, standing next to him. “Hinata’s said there wasn't much work left. She's trying to cheer up Sakura, so,” Naruto’s voice trailed off, “you just have to wait a little longer, and then I’ll teleport you.”

“I want to leave _now_ ,” Sasuke insisted. “You wanted me to be selfish, so this is me being selfish, take me away from here,” he hissed.

Naruto gave him a long, worried look.

“I guess I could take you to Tsunade but Sakura’s really worried about you, so,” he stopped himself, seeing how Sasuke tensed at the mere sound of his wife's name, “Let me just tell Hinata where we’re going,” he eventually said.

It didn't take him long to do that. Hinata didn't look too happy about the news but she accepted them. She's always accepted everything Naruto told her.

“Let’s go,” he told Sasuke after returning to the room. The man was already dressed and packed. Naruto wanted to know _why_ he was so upset but everything about Sasuke was pretty much screaming at him to stay away. Naruto breathed in, touched the other man's shoulder and teleported them out.

* * *

“Naruto!” Tsunade exclaimed when she saw them in front of her doors. She moved outside the village, into a rather busy city. Sasuke had no idea why she didn't want to live in Konoha anymore but he didn't really care. “I haven't see you in ages, you brat,” the woman laughed. “And Sasuke came as well,” she added, sounding a lot less cheery. Sasuke didn't blame her. He _did_ want to kill her. He also wanted to kill Sakura. The two medics that were capable of healing him. Just his luck.

“You look pretty good for your age,” the blonde chirped in an obvious ploy to turn her attention away from Sasuke. The woman swatted the moron on the head. Her moves were slow, Naruto could easily dodge the attack if he wanted to but, apparently, he wished to sport a bump and risk a concussion.

“I can't say the same about you,” Tsunade grumbled. “What brings you two here? I wasn't expecting any guests, so the flat is a mess but I guess neither of you cares.”

“Yeah, we don't,” Naruto admitted. “I need to ask you a favor,” he said the moment she let them in. Her flat was tiny but extravagant. Lots of expensive-looking things packed into a space way too small, and with no sense or reason when it came to their arrangement. “I need you to fix Sasuke's head—“

“I think it's way too late for that,” she grunted, her hands touching Sasuke's temples, her chakra already probing into his brain. She tsked a couple of times, a deep frown on her unnaturally young face. “There's nothing I can do about the eyes,” she informed them. “Sorry, but the connection—“

“We know,” Sasuke interrupted her. Naruto gave him an ugly look. Still, hearing that one was going blind twice in just one day was a little bit too much.

“It’s about the rest of his brain,” the blonde supplied with a huge grin on his tanned face. Sasuke sighed, realizing that soon he wouldn't be able to tell one expression from another.

“Ah, yes,” Tsunade hummed. “But someone was already working on it, huh? Masterfully done, so it must've been Sakura,” she guessed. “Why did you come to me? She could've done it on her own.”

“Uh, well, it's not possible at the moment,” the moron blabbered as the woman's eyes kept narrowing. “Please,” he pleaded.

“Fine,” Tsunade grunted. “But know that I don't like it even one bit,” she barked. “Come,” she ordered them as she led them into a smaller room. This one was much cleaner and better organized than the rest of her apartment. It was filled with medical utensils, scrolls and books. There was also a cheap, narrow bed. “Lie down,” she muttered as she pushed Sasuke onto the mattress.

“Sakura needed Hinata's help,” Naruto informed her. “Are you going to be okay on your own?”

“Of course I will,” Tsunade replied. “Drink this,” she said, handing Sasuke some weird-smelling concoction. “I’m not going to poison you,” she growled, rolling her eyes, probably noticing his hesitation. “Your boyfriend would've been seriously upset with me if I did, and I kind of like him,” she added, a mischievous smile on her face. Sasuke snorted when he saw a violently red blush spreading on Naruto’s face.

“I'm _so_ glad you two are bonding,” the blonde huffed. Sasuke shrugged his shoulders, drinking yet another mixture Tsunade gave him.

“If you want to tell him something embarrassing, now's the time,” the woman chuckled. “He should go to sleep any minute now, so he’s not going to remember—“

That was the last thing Sasuke's mind registered.

* * *

Sasuke blinked, trying to see something, _anything_ , but there was nothing. He cursed under his breath. He must've been in that genjutsu again. And soon this darkness was going to become his reality.

He was lying on the grass, bundled up in an unpleasantly soggy blanket. He turned on his side, facing the point, where he could feel Naruto. The other Naruto. The fake Naruto.

“Oh, hey, you woke up,” the boy chirped. “Finally, like, I'm dying to get some sleep too,” he whined.

“Stay with me a little longer,” Sasuke said. He’d much rather have a fake conversation than pretend to keep the watch. Especially since he was quite certain that nobody was going to attack them anyways.

Bony fingers wormed themselves into his hair. “Sure,” Naruto agreed, stifling a yawn. Sasuke let out a shaky breath. He had to admit that he could understand why Naruto found this reality so enticing. “How do you feel?”

“I'm,” Sasuke stopped himself from saying _fine_. Nothing he did in here mattered. Nothing he said in here mattered. “I'm scared,” he admitted.

“Me too,”the other boy confessed, combing through Sasuke's fringe. “At least we can be scared together, huh?” Naruto murmured in a soothing voice.

“I guess,” Sasuke whispered. Somehow, it made him feel better, less lonely and pathetic in his fear.

“But it's not going to last forever,” the boy assured him. “We've been _dead_ , like, seriously _dead_ , and yet we came back to life, so I think we’ll do just fine,” he laughed. “Also, like I'm pretty fucking certain that there is a way to make you see through my eyes or somebody else's, so even if we can't find a pair of eyes for you, and, like, you know, it's not something you can just find lying around, we’ll make it work.”

“I'm genius,” Sasuke realized, suddenly sitting up, and crashing his head with Naruto’s. “Shit, it still hurts,” he complained. He froze when he felt the boy embracing him. “You can let go of me,” he said.

“I don't want to,” the blonde whined but did let go of him. Sasuke tapped his fingers on his knee. He just had to wait to return to the real world. He just needed to—

He needed Naruto and his clones to search through Orochimaru's vast collection of scrolls. One by one.

And then he'd need him to stay with him, to lend him his eyes.

Naruto didn't have time for this.

Sasuke growled in annoyance, and fell down on the grass again.

“What's wrong?” Naruto questioned.

“Nothing,” Sasuke sighed. He had no idea why he even bothered to talk to… whatever it was. Was it his own genjutsu? A figment of his imagination? A part of Naruto that got cut off after Sakura healed him? Either way, it was the last time Sasuke would see it.

“You can't do everything on your own, Sasuke,” the blonde whispered.

“So you're quoting Itachi too,” Sasuke muttered.

“Yeah, I mean… he _was_ right when it came to this. He said that Madara turned into what he was because he wanted to do everything on his own, because he believed he needed the power to do everything on his own, and shoulder everyone's pain and then to fix the system,” Naruto blabbered. “We’re _not_ alone, Sasuke. We have each other. Don't forget that.”

* * *

Naruto wasn’t able to stand still. He was pacing around the small room until Tsunade got annoyed with him, and threw him out. Now he was sitting on a ridiculously short sofa, tapping his feet against wooden floor, which was covered with papers, lottery tickets and pillows. He was acting almost the same when he was waiting for Hinata to bear their son. But it's been _hours_ since Tsunade started, and—

“I’m done,” Tsunade yelled, leaning through the doorway, and shoving Sasuke out of the room.

“Sasuke,” he rasped. The man sent him a long, unreadable look.

“Thanks,” Sasuke whispered, turning his head to look at Tsunade, who just rolled her eyes.

“I wasn’t doing it for you,” she grunted. “Naruto, you should visit me more often,” she complained. “Now you’re old enough to actually go out with me for some drinks,” she added. “Besides, I do miss you every now and then. And, if you want me to ever heal your boyfriend again, you’d better make me believe that’s not the only reason you’d visit me for,” she grumbled. She gave Naruto a stern look, but soon her frown turned into a genuine smile.

“Sorry,” Naruto mumbled out. “I was so busy with, uh, work, that I barely had the time to scratch my ass,” he tried to laugh it off. “But I’m going to visit you soon,” he promised. He did intend to keep his promise. He’d broken way too many of them already.

“Do tell me in advance, though,” she said. “You’re lucky I was home this time.”

“Sure,” he murmured. He stood up to give her a hug, but she just flicked his forehead. “Thanks,” he added. “This means a lot to me—“

“Yeah, yeah,” she interrupted him. “I’m not going to say that it was nothing but you know I’d do almost anything for you, so,” she trailed off. “Do come see me later.”

“I will,” he smiled. “See you soon,” he said before teleporting Sasuke and himself into the Orochimaru’s hideout.

* * *

“That was awkard,” Sasuke noticed. The man gasped when Naruto crushed him in a tight embrace.

“Sorry,” Naruto mumbled out into Sasuke’s shoulder. He smiled when he felt a hand carefully patting his back. “I was kind of a dick to you and everyone else,” he clarified. “I was angry, and I took it out on you, and—“

“You were scared. You still are,” Sasuke interrupted him. He was right, wasn't he? Naruto _was_ scared. He was scared that Sasuke was already broken beyond repair, he was anxious about making such drastic changes to his life, he was anxious about hurting Hinata like this, he was scared that he was going to lose his family, he was afraid to leave Konoha virtually unprotected. “I'm scared too,” Sasuke confessed.

Naruto breathed in. Nothing’s made him ready to hear that Sasuke was scared. He _knew_ Sasuke was scared, any sane person would be scared, but the man was never particularly open about his feelings.

“But I'm going to be fine,” the brunette continued.

“Ye, I should be the one comforting you, not the other way around,” Naruto said, letting out a sad laugh. Sasuke just shook his head, and eventually rested it against Naruto’s.

“It’s getting late,” the man whispered. “You should—“

“Let me stay,” Naruto interrupted him before he could say _go_. “I'll send a few clones to the village, so--"

He didn't want Sasuke to be alone when he'd open his eyes to find nothing but blackness. The building, or rather compound, the man was staying in was huge and empty. The walls were thick, and there were places where one could hear their heartbeat if no-one was talking. Quiet. Too quiet.

“I think you've already been absent because of me for way longer than it’s socially acceptable,” Sasuke sighed. Still, he didn’t say _no_.

“It's not like I'm going ona  vacation,” Naruto pointed out, forcing a chuckle. “For the time being,” he started, “I'll stay their workhorse but I've already told Hinata I'm going to quit, so it's just a matter of time until I’ll be done with everything,” he said. Sasuke tensed in his arms. Naruto gulped, afraid the other man would break the hug but he did nothing of the sort.

“I intend to work anyways,” Sasuke finally replied. “And I'm pretty certain that whatever you want to do, I'll be just slowing you down.”

“I've waited so long that a few more months won't make a difference,” Naruto stated.

“ _What_ do you want to do?” Sasuke asked, taking a step backward. Naruto breathed in, pondering over the answer. To be honest, he wasn't too good with planning ahead. He knew what he was supposed to do for _now_ —quit as a hokage, divorce Hinata, stay with Sasuke and help him adapt to the… new circumstances. But that would be solved within months. For better or worse—although he believed that whatever the _worse_ would entail, it’d still be better than what it was now.

“I'm going to fix Konoha,” Naruto answered.Sasuke kept just staring at him. “I'll remove the council. I’ll make sure the new one isn't just a carbon copy of this one. I’ll make sure the Hyuugas change. I'll uncover every disgusting thing Konoha's ever done.I’ll make them walk into a new era.”

“New era, huh,” Sasuke repeated, sounding utterly unimpressed. “Sounds fun.”Naruto withstood his stare. He wasn't doubting himself, and he _knew_ what had to be done.Fixing the world was the least he could do. “I guess you _are_ going to ask for my eyes in a few years,” Sasuke muttered. “It’s much easier to control people with a sharingan, and gods know you have enough chakra to actually use it,” he growled. “What are you going to do if I won't agree—“

“What are you going on about?!” Naruto snapped. “I'm not going to ask for your _eyes_ —“

“Ah, so you're not even going to ask,” the man interrupted him.

“Are you out of your mind?!” Naruto yelled at him. Sasuke merely raised an eyebrow.

“I wish I was,” he retorted. “How are you going to deal with those, who oppose you? Do tell me. What are you going to do? Because you _do_ know that your usual talk-no-jutsu isn’t going to work, right? You _do_ know that you will most probably cause an uprising in Konoha—“

“Konoha _needs_ an uprising,” Naruto hissed.

“ _Right_ ,” Sasuke murmured. “It’s been too long since the last time someone innocent died. Who is it going to be now? My kid? Your kids? Your so-called friends and their kids?”

“ _Nobody’s going to die_ ,” Naruto growled.

“So it’ll be a bloodless uprising,” the man said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. “And how do you want to achieve it without my eyes?”

“I’ll find a way,” the blonde assured him.

“Madara had a fun plan,” Sasuke chirped. “For my sake I’m just going to suggest you to use his eyes instead.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Naruto demanded to know. “I’m not going to use his eyes to control everyone, that’s fucking sick,” he screamed. “Gods, you’re so infuriating—“

“Leave and don’t come back,” Sasuke interrupted him. He reached to his bag, showed Naruto the marked kunai, and destroyed it. “I’m going to destroy every single one I find,” he informed the blonde in a cold voice.

“Can you _stop_ being this dramatic? Isn’t _this_ what you’ve wanted? _You_ wanted to reform the shinobi world, so _why_ are you flipping out on me like that? Seriously, _what is wrong with you_ —“

“I _am_ going to come after your ass if you make even one false move,” the brunette threatened him.

“You’ve gone crazy,” Naruto realized. “Do you seriously think I’m going to turn into some fucking super villain? Like, for real, what gave you the idea?”

“You,” Sasuke answered.

“Me?! Why? Because I want a better tomorrow?” Naruto asked. “Seriously, like, you’ve asked me one question, I answered, and now you’re freaking out for no reason whatsoever. For fuck’s sake, Sasuke, _talk to me_.”

“Fine, here’s another one. How much are you willing to sacrifice for the greater good? How much are you willing to pay?”

“I don’t plan to sacrifice anyone,” Naruto protested. “I’m going to _talk_ to them, like, that’s an option too, you know—“

“Then what have you been doing for all these years? It seems that talking doesn’t work anymore. Are you going to tell them you’re going to destroy them if they won’t listen to you? You kept blabbering about being true to your words, so I assume you _are_ going to mean what you’re saying—“

“You’re batshit crazy,” Naruto whispered. “These people are hurting others. I can’t just stand back and let it happen. Their victims can’t do anything about it because they’re too weak, but I’m—“

“You’re strong enough,” Sasuke supplied.

“What’s the matter with you today? I know you’re probably dead tired and all that, but,” he paused, finally allowing himself to catch air, “we were talking about throwing the council down before. You’ve agreed with me that it had to happen. Hell, you even said you were willing to do something illegal to make sure they disappear. What’s changed?” Sasuke just looked at him, visibly uncertain about how to reply to that. Naruto mentally patted his back. Making Sasuke speechless was a rather rare occurrence, although he couldn’t say it was completely unheard of. “Remember? We were supposed to find some dirt on them and make them resign. I wouldn’t call that a violent solution,” he continued. “And I don’t know _how_ we’re going to deal with the rest of the issues, but, like, we’re together in this, so I’m pretty certain we’ll be able to come up with something.”

“You’ve said you were going to _make Konoha walk into a new era_ ,” Sasuke muttered. “It doesn’t exactly sound like you were going to give up if diplomacy and blackmail were going to fail.”

“You always seemed to be a type that would be good with blackmail,” Naruto blurted out. “Also, like, you know, if they didn’t want to resign on their own, then, like, I guess we could tell the public about what they’ve done? Then they’d be forced to just give up, and I think that if I or someone like, I don’t know, Tsunade, suggested a council member then people would be more willing to actually go with it? I mean, there’s plenty of options. And Konoha does need to come clean about all the shit it’s done. People aren’t going to like it, I mean, I was terrified when I heard of how it was all working, and I’m pretty certain I’ve heard just a fraction of it, so…,” he trailed off, “Anyways! I came to terms with it, er, wait, I did _not_ come to terms with it, but, like, I think people need to know of what’s really been going on behind the curtains. I have to admit that I have absolutely no idea what we’re going to do about Hyuugas but maybe making the matters more public would help the case? I don’t know, maybe they’d feel pressured to change their ways if people stopped treating them like some nobility? Like, I don’t think any sane person would just go _oh yeah that’s cool_ after hearing about it? It’s no secret but I guess people were fine with it when everyone was still at war with everyone, and now they’re just _this is how it is_ , and they’re all used to this or something? Sasuke, you’re asking me about things that haven’t been fixed for _decades_ , don’t expect me to come up with solutions this fast. We’ll have plenty of time to talk this through while you’ll be getting better—“

“Fine,” Sasuke rasped.

“Fine what?”

“You can stay,” the man decided, looking away. “Sorry,” he added.

“Ah, well,” Naruto chirped, feeling the weight being lifted from his shoulders. “It’s somewhat comforting to see that, uh, you’ll be keeping tabs on me. I would’ve appreciated it if you didn’t freak out like this but I guess it’s a part of your charm,” he joked. Sasuke breathed out and rolled his eyes, visibly relaxing. Naruto smiled at him, handed him a replacement for the kunai the man had destroyed, and made a few clones. “Now I’m going to teleport back to Konoha, tell Hinata that I’m staying here with you,” he informed the man, “and then I’m coming back. I can leave a clone with you for the time being—“

“I don’t need a babysitter to watch over me,” Sasuke interrupted him, sounding mildly pissed off.

“It might take a few hours, though,” Naruto said. “At first I wanted to talk to her about divorce after you’ll get back on your feet, but it wouldn’t be fair to her.”

“It wouldn’t,” Sasuke agreed. “Don’t rush yourself, I’ll be fine,” he assured the blonde. “Even if it takes longer than just a few hours. But if it will,” he paused, sighed, and looked Naruto straight in the eyes, “I’d appreciate it if you sent a clone to at least tell me how it’s going.”

“Sure,” Naruto replied. He gave Sasuke’s shoulder one last squeeze, and teleported back to Konoha.

* * *

Naruto took a deep breath, bracing himself for the conversation he was about to have. He was going to make his, Hinata’s, and their children lives do a one hundred and eighty degrees turn. It was all his fault. It was selfish. Nevertheless, he had to admit that the only reason he’d consider staying in a marriage with Hinata was guilt, and that would be disrespectful. He could feel that she was at home, and he did consider just teleporting there but, eventually, decided against it.

He walked through Konoha’s streets, smiling and waving at passersby. It was night already, so the only people he saw were either still working or coming back home. He passed a group of teenagers, who looked as if they were up to no good but they ran away the moment they saw him. It seemed that whatever they wanted to do—and judging from the location, they just wanted to get drunk—would have to wait till another night. It was calm in there. The night was chilly and windy, there were no clouds. When he was a child, he was able to see stars from Konoha but now it seemed that the amount of light pollution was too high. Naruto heaved a heavy sigh. He missed the Konoha from when he was a part of Team 7, when it seemed that the village was crystal clear and bred nothing but heroes. When he stopped feeling lonely.

Funny how he’s never stopped feeling lonely after Sasuke ran away.

Naruto shook his head, walked up to his house, knocked on the doors, and waited for Hinata to open him.

“N-Naruto?” His wife murmured the moment she saw him, a deep blush spreading on her soft cheeks. “You’ve lost your keys?”

“Ah!” Naruto yelped, realizing he’s been a massive idiot. He hasn’t come to his house in _years_ , if he ever needed anything, he was just teleporting there, and for most of the time it was his clones, who were teleporting there. Naruto had no idea where the keys to his house were. Or if he even still had those.

“I'll have someone make a copy for you,” his wife offered with a shy smile, and invited him inside. Naruto didn't have the heart to tell her that he wasn't going to need the keys. “How's Sasuke?”

“Oh, he's,” Naruto paused, feeling like a fraud, “he’s better now,” he finished the sentence. “We've just came back from Tsunade. How's Sakura?”

“She's still shaken,” Hinata answered, handing him a cup of a steaming hot tea. He had no idea when she managed to prepare a tea. The woman closed the doors to the living room, and sat down on a bright couch. “Himawari's asleep,” she explained. “I can wake her up if you want, I'm sure she'll be happy to see you.”

“I’ll talk to her later,” he mumbled out. He set the tea on the coffee table. He didn't feel like he deserved a tea.

“Is something wrong?” Hinata inquired.

“We don't work as a couple,” he said. Her hand flew to her mouth, her eyes started filling with tears. “I'm sorry, you’re being perfect,” he hastily added. “I… I've been struggling with this for a long time now, and…”

“N-Naruto, I’m sorry, I,” she stuttered in a whimpering voice, “I did it because I love you, and I knew that if you knew about Sasuke's eyes, you would've,” she sobbed before her voice completely gave up.

“No, no, no, Hinata, I wouldn't divorce you just because I was upset with you,” he protested, wiping her tears with his sleeve. “I just… wasn’t ready for such a commitment back then when we were still nineteen, and now it's just… we've rushed it, everything was _so_ rushed,” he blabbered, “but I can't go on like this, it's not fair to you,” he whispered in an apologetic tone. “You're important to me, and you'll always be important to me,” he assured her. “I love our children, and I thank you for them. I don't regret being married to you, you are a wonderful wife, and you deserve _so much_ better,” he said. His voice was starting to break, and, before he knew it, fat tears were rolling down his face.

“T-then wh-hy—“

Naruto waited for her to finish the sentence because he didn't want to interrupt her, but it seemed that she was unable to speak more. He breathed in, his heart aching. He's had more difficult conversations today than in the last fifteen years. And this one was most painful.

“It’s difficult to explain,” he replied. It wasn’t, not really. _There's not a day when I don't regret not going with Sasuke._ “We were better friends than we are lovers,” he whispered. “I don't even remember when was the last time I came here in person.”

“B-but you wanted to resign as a hokage, so now you'll have plenty off t-time to come,” she whimpered, choking on air. She was quiet even when she cried. She was always talking in a voice that was barely louder than a whisper. “Don't leave,” she pleaded. It hurt.

“I,” he tripped on words, “That’s impossible, sorry,” he whispered. “I've realized it only recently but deep down you probably know it as well,” he started, feeling nauseous from anxiety, “I could've been here, and a clone could've been doing the paperwork,” he confessed. “But I didn't do it. I was running away, Hinata. Because even then I knew I couldn't possibly reciprocate your feelings.”

She just stared at him, at loss for words. He knew he hurt her. He knew he was going to have this conversation with her again, after she'll be able to think things through.

“If you’ll allow me, I'll come back later,” he stated. “We can talk about this more if you want. If you don't, then,” his voice trailed off. “We have some savings, they're all yours. The same goes for the house. The paperwork should be done by tomorrow, one of my clones—“

Hinata slapped him across the face, hard. Her lips were trembling.

“I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't be mentioning all these trivial things but I don't want you to worry about it,” he explained himself. She looked away, clearly ashamed of herself. He rubbed his cheek. It was the second time she’s raised her hand at him.“I'll come back tomorrow, okay?” He asked. “Or, like, if you want more time, just hand a note to one of my clones, and I’ll be there when you want me,” he suggested. She slowly nodded her hand. “Then I'll be waiting for you to tell me when you're ready to talk again,” he stated. “I'm sorry, Hinata,” he whispered.

* * *

Sasuke breathed out when he felt that Naruto appeared in the hideout. He stood up, put the scroll he'd been reading away, and headed towards the source of chakra. It didn't take him long to find the blonde sitting next to a table, his upper half lying on it as if he was dead.

“Want to talk?” Sasuke questioned. Naruto shook his head. “Want me to stay here with you?”

This time the blonde nodded. Sasuke sat opposite of him, uncertain about what he was supposed to do next. He’s never had to comfort anyone. Nor felt the need to. This was different, however. This was Naruto.Sasuke hated to see him in pain, it was actually worse than when he himself was hurting.

“I've made your bed,” he informed the blonde after a couple of minutes of awkward silence. Naruto let out a grunt, as if to affirm that he's heard Sasuke.

Then there was the silence again. Sasuke wasn't particularly gifted at small talk. Besides, he knew he'd hate it if someone was hoping to distract him with random topics, and Naruto's said he didn't want to talk, so… Sasuke hummed under his nose. Inaction seemed also as awful. He sighed, and rested his hand on the back of Naruto's head.

“There, there,” the blonde mumbled out.

“What?”

“That's what you're supposed to say,” Naruto whispered. Sasuke tilted his head.

“There, there,” he repeated, sounding far less human that Naruto. At least it earned him a tiny chuckle.He moved his fingers, gently scratching the blond scalp. Naruto's breathing pattern was slowly returning to its normal state.

“The fact that you're so awkward when it comes to basic human interactions is almost charming,” Naruto murmured under his breath. His voice broke in the middle of the sentence. Naruto's hand grabbed Sasuke's, and held it in place.

“What do you want me to do?” Sasuke inquired.

“Let's just stay like this,” the man pleaded.Sasuke nodded even though he knew that Naruto couldn't possibly see it while lying face down. Sasuke rested his head on the table, and closed his eyes.

He was already almost blind in darkness, and had trouble reading. There was a big chance that by tomorrow he wouldn't be able to do it anymore.

“I'm going to need your help,” he informed the man.

“Sure,” the blonde replied. “What is it?”

“Reading,” Sasuke sighed. Naruto sat up, causing Sasuke's hand to fall on the table, and soon there were two more Narutos standing in the room.

“You don’t have to do it right now,” Sasuke said. The man shrugged his shoulders, and sent him a questioning look. “Go to the library and find anything that would make me see,” Sasuke ordered the clones, who immediately marched off. They too looked miserable.

“I actually thought of something too,” the blonde mumbled out. “When you're in a sage mode, you can kind of _feel_ things, like, you just _know_ where the attacks are coming from, so you can fight normally even if you don't see anything. And you'd be able to feel other people's chakra too, so it wouldn't be just mine. It's not much but it's something, so—“

“Sounds good,” Sasuke murmured back, stifling a yawn.

“I guess I better set you up on a date with toads then,” Naruto replied, yawning as well. “That'll be funny to watch,” he let out a little laugh, and lied on the table again, placing Sasuke's hand in his hair. “Am I a bad person for looking forward to seeing you half-turning into a frog and being smacked with a giant stick by a toad? Because I _am_ looking forward to it.”

“I'd say it's a definite yes,” Sasuke said.“I'll be blind by then.”

“Don't worry, I'll tell you how you look like,” Naruto chuckled, turning his head to look at Sasuke, who smiled at him in reply.

“Good, I wouldn’t want to miss out on _that_ ,” he sighed, mostly to humor the blonde. “So if you mess up now, you still look like a frog?”

“Nah, I was trying to do it but I guess I'm too awesome to mess it up now,” Naruto confessed, sounding ridiculously saddened by this fact. “Oh, and, like, you'll get quicker so maybe you'll still be able to use some of your bullshit techniques,” Naruto perked up. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him, silently scolding the man for calling his techniques bullshit. “They _are_ bullshit,” Naruto insisted.“Mine maybe don’t look as fancy, and, like, most people could probably copy them, but they do their job. Yours do it too, of course,” he blabbered, “but they seriously look unnecessarily complicated.Gods, you generally fight as if you were challenged to a dance off,” he snorted.

“ _A dance off_ ,” Sasuke repeated in a cold voice, enjoying the shiver that went through the moron's body.

“Oi, it's not my fault that you have a thing for drama,” Naruto blurted out. Sasuke just narrowed his eyes at the idiot. And it worked. The blonde shut up for solid fifteen minutes. “Speaking of drama,” the man uncertainly whispered, “Hinata is… uh, well, she's not taking it too well. I mean, it's not like I was expecting her to take it well but I think she's seriously messed up because of this.”

“Sorry to hear it,” Sasuke replied, raising his head, and staring at Naruto, who apparently refused to exist if his cheek wasn’t glued to a table. “What did you tell her?”

“That I was stupid and got married too soon, but I don't regret doing it because she gave me two wonderful children,” the man reported. “And that I don't reciprocate her feelings. And that she can keep all the money—“

“Smooth,” Sasuke commented.

“I'm sorry I'm not an expert on getting divorced,” Naruto hissed.

“I'm just surprised that you'd call _me_ awkward when it comes to basic human interactions,” Sasuke replied.

“Getting divorced isn't a part of _basic human interactions_! Comforting a friend _is_ ,” Naruto retorted.

“There, there,” Sasuke muttered.

“Gods, you're so bad at it that it's actually working,” the blonde wailed.

“It's going to be fine, it's natural that she reacted like this if she thought everything between you two was  going well,” Sasuke pointed out. “Give her some time to sort it out.”

“Yeah, I've already told her to contact me when she wants to talk again. But now I think that maybe she's never going to contact me, so it was probably a terrible idea.”

“She _is_ going to contact you. And if she won't, you can always contact her yourself. But first give her some time,” Sasuke said.

“I hope you're right,” Naruto whined. “What about, er, Sakura? Hinata’s told me she was still upset when she left her.”

Sasuke heaved a heavy sigh. “She didn't say anything you haven't heard before,” he eventually answered.

“I guess the same goes for you,” the blonde whispered. Sasuke nodded. “It's a miracle you two have a kid.”

“I'm not certain how I feel about you imagining Sakura and me having sex but no, it's not a miracle, it's science,” Sasuke corrected him. Naruto’s cheeks turned to a curious shade of red.

“I see,” he mumbled out. “That's somehow more obscene.”

“It's not,” Sasuke sighed. “It's just a normal procedure. Not too different from any other—“

“Yeah, I don't recall a doctor ever asking me to jerk off into a plastic cup, so _no_ , it is different,” the moron disagreed.

“So now you're picturing me jacking off into a plastic cup,” Sasuke mused. “Cute.”

“Sure, I'm going to build my next sexy no jutsu around you jerking off into a plastic cup, like yeah, this is what people normally get off to,” Naruto barked. “I'm going through _divorce_ , you're going _blind_ , and yet we're talking about plastic cups,” he realized in terror.

“You started it,” Sasuke pointed out.

“I've just said that it's a miracle you two have a daughter together, like, I didn't ask for any _details_ ,” the blonde whined. Sasuke hummed under his nose, considering it for a short second. The moron was actually right.

“Perhaps I _am_ more socially inept than you,” Sasuke admitted.

“You _think_?!” Naruto snorted. “Gods, I shouldn't be smiling right now,” he scolded himself, hiding his face in his linked hands.

“There, there,” Sasuke said. The blonde let out a short laugh before sending Sasuke a death glare. “There, there,” he repeated.

Naruto snickered. Stopped. Snickered again. Then he burst out laughing, his hands pressing his head into the table, as if it could stop him from acting like a complete moron. Sasuke smiled at the sight.

“For fuck's sake, Sasuke,” Naruto wheezed, gasping for air, “you’ve accused me today of becoming new Madara, we’re going through _so much_ shit at the moment,and now you're acting like a complete dork,” he chuckled. “Please, don’t change,” he pleaded.

“You too,” Sasuke replied, and yawned. “We should go to sleep. It's been a long day.”

* * *

Naruto woke up, feeling almost sick with anxiety. He did a run of breathe-ins and breathe-outs, convinced it was just stress but he soon realized that something was off, terribly off. He got up from an old bed, and quietly left the room, walking into a dark corridor. Orochimaru's hideout looked like something straight out of a horror movie. No wonder. It was probably crowded with ghosts of all those people, who were killed in here. It was a good thing that the room Sasuke was residing in wasn’t too far away.

Because the uneasiness he felt was caused by Sasuke.

The blonde gently opened the doors, and entered the room. A thick candle was burning, giving a modest amount of light. Sasuke was sitting on the bed, looking defeated.

“Sasuke,” he called out. “What's wrong?”

“I can't see,” the man replied him in a dead voice. “I can hear the candle burning but I can't see it,” he continued, audibly refraining his voice from breaking. Naruto frowned, and walked deeper into the room to sit on the bed next to Sasuke, who was intently glaring at the flame, his eyes unfocused and shifty. “I can't see it,” he repeated.

Naruto threw an arm over the man's back, and pulled him closer. There wasn't anything that he could say to make Sasuke feel better.

“It’s too fast,” the brunette whispered.

“It's already dawning,” Naruto informed him. Sasuke made a small noise, and leaned forward, almost bent in half. His skin was moist with cold sweat, his breaths were loud and heavy. Naruto slowly rubbed the man's back with his hand, frantically trying to come up with something to say. “I'm here,” he said in a hushed voice. Just imagining that Sasuke could've been alone was painful. “I'm with you,” he murmured.“Breathe with me,” he pleaded, kneeling in front of Sasuke, grabbing his shoulders, and resting his forehead against the other man's. “You're with me,” he assured the panicked brunette. “It’s going to be okay,” he promised.

After a few more minutes Sasuke's breathing returned to normal. Naruto climbed on the bed, sat behind the other man, and pulled him closer, making them both lie on the mattress. He gently embraced Sasuke, looking for any sign of protest but there was none.

“There, there,” the man rasped in a sad voice some time later. Naruto hugged him closer, pressing his face against Sasuke's back. He knew that it was going to happen, they _both_ knew it was going to happen, but it hit them all the same.

“There, there,” Naruto croaked in reply. Sasuke’s strong body trembled in his arms but the brunette didn't allow himself to fall apart. It was already morning, and they were soaked in sunlight.

“It’s day already, isn't it?” Sasuke asked. Naruto made an affirmative noise. “It’s warmer,” the brunette sighed. “And you are the only thing location of I’m certain,” he said in a defeated tone. “In that genjutsu,” he started, words clearly coming hard to him, “you—or me but through your mouth—came up with something. Seeing through somebody else's eyes.”

“We're already connected,” Naruto noticed. “It should be easier for you to use mine.”

“I don’t know how to do it, though,” Sasuke replied. “But it looks as if it could be useful for intelligence purposes. Somebody probably already came up with a way to do it.”

“Yeah,” Naruto agreed. “So this is what we're looking for,” he realized. “I can search through Konoha’s library too. And, like, they have an actual librarian and an index of all those scrolls, so it should be easier to find.”

“Perhaps,” Sasuke said in a hushed voice. “Don’t leave,” he pleaded. He sounded ashamed of himself for making this request. As if he needed to ask Naruto to stay, as if he didn’t know Naruto _was_ going to stay with him.

“I’m not going to,” Naruto promised.

It was the most important promise he’d ever made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing a canonverse fic is pretty time-consuming since one has to check every minor detail. I had to reread parts of manga, and I've spent hours on Naruto wikia.
> 
> There are few things that aren't canon. First of all, Itachi never transplanted Shisui's eyes into himself--he transplanted one of Shisui's eyes into that crow, and the second was taken by Danzou. I forgot about this, so it's an honest mistake. It doesn't really matter, though. There was just one line referring to it, and it wasn't important to the plot, so I hope you'll forgive me :)
> 
> The other is that in the Boruto movie Sasuke is shown to be able to teleport as well, using something similar to Obito's technique. In here he can't do that. For plot reasons.
> 
> Also, Naruto probably can't use the Flying Thunder God Technique. In that mama-drama manga he has to walk to Sasuke on foot.
> 
> Sorry for that :<
> 
> Everything else is canon compliant though. At least I think it is :'D Feel free to correct me.
> 
> Thank you for reading the fic :)

**Author's Note:**

> it's been eight fucking years


End file.
